Sleeping Beauty
by yourstruly247
Summary: Basketball was Rukawa's main focus for all these years. He never noticed all the other little details in life, until Haruko gained the courage to wake him up to reality.
1. Chapter 1

**I've decided to take a detour from all the Naruto-ness and focus on something new. It is my first time writing for this anime, so please don't expect it to be perfect. I haven't watched Slam Dunk in AGES, and I've just started rewatching the episodes so bear with me if some of the people are OOC. **

**Anyhoo, here's my first Slam Dunk fanfic!**

**ENJOY.**

* * *

_**Sleeping Beauty**_

"Rukawa-kun."

He felt a slight pressure on his arm followed by a light tap of his shoulder, then nothing. The last remnants of his dreams were slipping away, much to his chagrin. As Rukawa Kaede was slowly regaining consciousness from his beloved slumber, he was only aware of one thing:

Someone was trying to wake him up.

Idiot.

His eyes snapped open, blue irises gleaming with irritation as he grabbed the fragile wrist that was about to touch him once again. A gasp escaped from the lips of his offender and his angry gaze was directed from the bright navy hue of the sky to the source of the noise. His free hand formed a fist reflexively and he swung to hit the idiot who _dared _to interrupt his sleep when he caught a sight of the wrongdoer's face. His fist paused mid-air before he could deliver the blow.

A girl?

Well, that was a surprise. (No sarcasm intended.)

Who was she? He'd vaguely recalled seeing her around a few times (with Sakuragi) but never really bothered to show any interest in her. If he had bothered to, he would have noticed her complete and utter devotion towards him, but seeing as three quarters of the female population was unfortunately attracted to him, so naturally he assumed that she was among them.

Tch. What an annoyance.

However, he was aware that if she was truly as rabid as the rest of his fan girls, she would have tried to pull a stunt on him - possibly an invasion of space along with some molesting (or maybe they'd try to bring back an article of his clothing as a souvenir) while he was sleeping, instead of her gentle means of attempting to rouse him from his slumber. If she was like the rest of those _deranged banshees_, he would have been woken up immediately by the noises of nasal squeals of how "handsome" he was instead of a voice so soft that it could almost be a whisper.

If she was like the rest of them, shouldn't she be cowering in fear of almost being struck (or maybe she would have begged him to strike her and never wash the bruised skin again)? Perhaps not. But in that case, shouldn't she then have love hearts in her eyes instead of the cerulean in her irises that looked like a darker version of the sky–

"You have basketball training now." She murmured, looking down at her lap as she was kneeling beside the once asleep teenager. Why does she care about him having training? What business is it of hers in the first place? But she was right; he did have basketball training now.

After regaining his bearings, he slowly sat up in confusion. No proclamations of love? Well, whatever. He didn't care either way. To be honest, he thought it was better that she hadn't sprouted into any nonsense about her undying love for him.

"Umm…"

His attention was brought back to the girl, intently focused on making her uncomfortable as she cleared her throat awkwardly. What did she want? Why was she still here? Couldn't she _see _that he didn't want to talk to her? The sooner she left, the sooner he could get to training.

"Could you let go of my wrist, please?"

He released her immediately, as though her skin had burned his hand. How long was he holding onto her like that for? His face paled at the realisation: did he just give her the wrong message? Would she begin to stalk him like all the other mislead girls? He didn't care about her, definitely not. But he wouldn't like to tolerate her presence longer than necessary, and if she had assumed that their prolonged physical contact meant anything (like how those other females assumed that his coincidental eye-contact meant he was attracted to them, oh how wrong they were) then she might try to be more bold and do more than just wake him up next time.

He stood up from the bench he was laying so comfortably on earlier to see the girl already walking away from him, heading in the direction of the indoor basketball court. Why on earth was _she _heading to the basketball court? He was pretty sure that she had no reason to be there unless she was stalking him (and even then it still wasn't any of her business). Taking long strides, he easily passed her on his way to training and muttered, "What happened just now didn't mean anything."

Only to receive a bitter smile followed by a quiet, "I know."

* * *

"I see you managed to wake him up." Takenori's deep voice resonated throughout the gym. He was speaking in his typical 'big brother' voice whilst his younger sister attempted a smile. At the faint curve of her lips upwards, his eyes narrowed under his drawn eyebrows and a frown settled on his features – sibling instincts taking over, as his face adopted a look of concern.

"Haru–"

"!"

All eyes darted to the obnoxious red head rolling on the floor whilst clutching his stomach and guffawing his guts out. Naturally, the team members would almost immediately find the source of his laughter, shrug, and resume their activities. However, nobody knew the reason for his unexpected laughter this time around and confusion spread amongst all the members of Shohoku's basketball team. All except the late Rukawa Kaede, who continued practicing his shots.

"I HAVE NEVER SEEN YOU LOOK MORE LIKE A GORILLA IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!"

Instantly, the Akagi siblings became the center of attention. As often as it was for their captain's gorilla-like features to be taunted by Hanamichi, never have they seen the idiot almost get a heart attack from seeing their center's face. Out of curiosity, the other students couldn't help but observe their captain. At the sight of Takenori's 'concerned' expression, everyone sighed and looked away (secretly agreeing with the red head's previous insult yet too frightened to voice their agreement in fear of receiving a thorough bashing).

"Haruko-san!" The loud-mouthed teenager bounced enthusiastically towards the girl who was now standing beside their captain. "Why are you late?" He spoke so loudly that everyone could hear him.

Rukawa paused from shooting hoops and went to the benches to retrieve his bottle, observing the conversation between the two using his peripherals. He had noticed how she was having a conversation with the captain earlier and wondered of their relationship. There was no way that they could be siblings, they didn't look alike at all. In fact, no feature was evident in any of their faces to suggest that they were even remotely related. The captain was dark skinned with strong protruding features while the girl called Haruko had fair skin and soft, elegant facial features…

"Imoto, I'll see you at home!" Takenori parted with the girl to resume bashing up any slacking players.

Hmmm. So maybe they were siblings after all.

One of them must have been adopted.

"I was just waking Rukawa-kun from his nap."

"WHATT? YOU WERE WITH THAT BASTARD? He didn't hurt you, did he?" Hanamichi glared at him threateningly while Haruko calmly smiled at the idiot (Was her smile always so small?).

Rukawa snorted, why would he even bother hurting a _girl_?

"No Sakuragi-kun, I'm fine!" The younger Akagi's eyes crinkled as her smile widened and the loser seemed to buy it, judging by the way he blushed as red as a tomato from being the receiver of her smile. Rukawa was about to look away when he noticed how she had subtly moved her left wrist – the wrist that he had grabbed, behind her back.

He also noticed a blue-black hue spreading on her wrist.

* * *

Training as usual was tiring, even more so than usual. If Rukawa was being honest, he would admit that he had slight trouble focusing on their drills and exercises since his eyes caught a glimpse of the growing bruise that he had inflicted (even if it wasn't intentionally) on the girl.

No, he wasn't concerned for her. As much as she was able to successfully hide it from her brother and that stupid idiot, it was plain obvious to him that he did injure her. It would only be a matter of time before Takenori noticed and questioned his sister about it. He wouldn't be surprised if she lied and not involve himself in the matter but on the off chance that she did tell the truth, how would Takenori react? Of course Rukawa wasn't afraid of getting into a fight, but he was slightly worried that he would get kicked off the team.

Who was he kidding?

He had nothing to worry about. He was their star player; they needed him if they even wanted to think about qualifying for nationals. They were nothing without him. Besides, any other school would gladly accept him.

Nevertheless, a small ounce of guilt had managed to work its way into him. He had never hurt a girl before, and he knew that Haruko didn't deserve it. Her intentions were innocent enough. Most of the time he was rudely woken up by students who thought they had 'authority' over him. Their main reasons for waking him up were either because he was an obstacle in their path (which they usually decide to walk around after a well-deserved beating) or because they felt like they were bad-ass enough.

Although he was annoyed at her for waking him up, at least she hadn't done it abruptly or taken advantage of his unconscious state. He had gripped her on reflex, as he would normally beat up the bastard that roused him from his sleep. But he hadn't realised how soft and fragile she was; how easy it was to bruise her. And that ugly bruise stood out on her fair skin like a sore thumb. Just looking at it made him uneasy.

Arghhh, there goes those guilty thoughts again.

That girl was getting more annoying by the second. And worst of all was that she had no idea that she was annoying him.

Snapping out of his reverie, Kaede mounted his bike and began cycling home.

-Bounce-

-Bounce-

"I have to get this in!"

-Brake-

As he turned to look at the people playing basketball his eyes widened in surprise.

Haruko was playing, alone.

'Where's that red headed idiot?' He mused, 'Wouldn't he be doing his extra training with her at this time?'

And so – behind the bushes that shrouded him from her view, he watched her play for several moments. She definitely needed practice, for sure. Her shots were not as accurate as they should be. But her technique was right and – although her actions were quite clumsy, she did possess some form of grace and her movements flowed with ease in the way a basketball player when she performed lay-ups. When taking shots, her arms naturally engaged into a shooting position that vaguely reminded him of Mitsui's style of play; but she was only half as accurate as the famous 3-pointer.

All in all, she was no basketball genius. But she had potential.

After realising that he had been watching for longer than necessary, he turned around abruptly and continued cycling home.

* * *

"Rukawa-kun?"

-Silence-

It was _her _again. How annoying. Hadn't she learned her lesson from the first time? He decided to ignore her and pretend to sleep until she went away. To his dismay, she was quite persistent.

"Please, wake up?"

Please? She was asking him? Why didn't she just shake him awake or scream in his ear? Now that he thought of it, she didn't strike him as a violent person. Actually, from the other day she seemed like quite a soft-spoken person. But he could be wrong; he didn't actually know her after all.

"Rukawa-kun?" her voice sounded a lot closer, as though she was speaking directly into his ear. He could feel her breath tickling the side of his ear and face like a feather. The wind blew over them and he was immediately enveloped in her scent. He continued to lay motionless within the embrace of the girl's soothing fragrance. For some odd reason, he didn't know what she smelled like. But whatever it was, it was oddly pleasant enough for him to just curl up and sleep agai–

"Okay then." A breathy sigh left her lips as she stood to leave.

Rukawa's nose twitched, irritated at the loss of the pacifying fragrance and on instinct (yet again) his hand shot out to grab her wrist. Before he realised what he had done she whimpered quietly. Yet not quite enough to escape his ears. He had grabbed her bruised wrist _again._

Standing up lethargically, he gently released her wrist and in response she held her injured hand to her chest, as though protecting herself.

'_Tch. Did she think I would stoop so low as to hit a girl?'_

"I'm sorry for bothering you." She mumbled self-consciously, "you're late for basketball practice so…"

"Why do you even bother?" Her eyes shot up to him, shocked. Although he wasn't sure if she was shocked at his words or at the fact that he had bothered to even talk to her. At least if he was rude and cold to her, she may get the message and _back off _instead of trying to pull such a crazy stunt like waking him up. Didn't she learn her lesson?

"I-it's just that, everyone else is already at the court. But you're one of our best players… we need you there so our team can practice properly with every member present."

'_Hmph. What a liar, she probably just wanted an excuse to see me like all the other girls.'_

He strode passed her towards the gym.

* * *

Yet again, training had taken its share of energy from his system and he couldn't help but notice how he was in fact the latest into the court. Perhaps that Haruko girl was being honest. Perhaps she wasn't a fan-girl like the rest of them, but it was obvious that she liked him. Normally this revelation wouldn't even be deemed important enough to irk any feelings from him. But she was the captain's sister! She should know better. She should be aware that he wouldn't reciprocate her feelings. The fact that she chose to like him irritated him to no end.

What's more, that bruise looked absolutely disgusting.

How on earth did nobody else notice it?

If nobody else was going to bother about it, neither should he.

* * *

Surprisingly, the next time he noticed her didn't wasn't after a period of slumber.

They were both seated on the wooden chairs of the plainly furnished classroom. Whilst he chose the most inconspicuous seat in the back row right beside the window and was bored out of his mind, Haruko sat a row ahead and two chairs to the right working diligently on the exercise sheets their teacher gave them.

(Did she always have Thursday's morning classes with him?)

"Haruko! What happened to your wrist?"

He would have frozen up at the question like a deer caught in the headlights, but he was Rukawa Kaede. So instead, he slowly began to fold his arms out on his desk, his head resting on them as he listened in on their conversation. Would she say the truth?

"It's nothing! Don't worry about it," Haruko mumbled curiously

"What do you mean 'don't worry about it'? It's swelling and I swear, what colour _is _that?"

Out of mild curiosity, he spared a glance at her wrist and immediately regretted doing so. Yes, what colour was that? It looked like a repulsive shade of maroon mixed with blue with some yellow added in as well. No artist in the world would be capable of forming such a ghastly hue with any combination of colours on their palette. What's more, on her creamy skin it looked like an infectious disease that would slowly spread like a poison throughout the rest of her body.

In other words, that bruise looked mutated.

"How long have you had that bruise for?"

"Just a couple of days. Nobody's seemed to notice yet so I thought it wasn't really as bad as it looked."

Just before her friend could argue and berate her for being so foolish, the bell rang signalling the end of their morning lesson and the start of break. Haruko – seeing this as her chance to escape unwanted attention, dashed towards the classroom door after calling out a cheerful "Bye Himiko-chan!"

* * *

Training was as vigorous as usual thanks to Coach Anzai but still didn't deter him from what he was about to do. He knew it was very out of character on his part, but it seemed as though he wasn't the only one that wasn't acting the way they normally would. He was appalled at the fact that Takenori hadn't even noticed his own little sister's injury and that Hanamichi obviously didn't pay as much attention to his crush as he used to.

Nevertheless, for the sake of his own guilty conscious, he would be the one to fix the damage he had done. He was probably overreacting about hurting Haruko, but it was a genuine accident. She shouldn't be walking around showing her bruise to the world and rubbing it in his face that he had actually hurt a _girl._ It was nothing more than that; he simply wanted to clear his guilt-ridden head so he can focus on more important things like _basketball _and _sleeping._

Yes. That disgusting bruise was getting worse and he wouldn't have done anything about it until he realised that she was left-handed.

She wrote with her left hand in class that day and upon closer inspection he noticed that she reaches out to pick everything up with her left hand. This consequently resulted in her swollen left wrist constantly bumping into everything (probably the reason for why it got worse over time) and as much as she manage to hide her suffering from others, he could still hear her almost inaudible whimpers and took note of the slight winces she made.

Rukawa could be extremely observant if he needed to be, why else (other than his skill and athleticism) was he Shohoku's ace?

Now many might find his behaviour odd and out of character, but so was physically hurting a girl. Besides, she was not responding to it the way he expected her to. She hadn't bandaged it up and tried to draw any attention to it like he assumed she would; if anything she was doing the complete opposite. At least if she reacted the way he expected her to, all he would feel is irritation at her for being an attention seeker, the annoyance would counteract the guilt and he'd be able to act like he had no part in it and go about his daily routine.

But no. She just had to make him feel guilty.

Well whatever. After this he would be able to resume his normal activities and pretend it never happened.

He found her playing basketball alone again and silently called Hanamichi an even bigger idiot than he thought. Wasn't he supposed to be playing with her? A girl like her shouldn't be out here at this time in the evening alone…

After watching her successfully attempt a lay-up he approached her with bandages held tightly in his right hand. She turned around and stiffened upon recognising the teenager who was advancing towards her with haste.

"Can I help you, Rukawa-kun?"

Wordlessly he presented her with the rolled up white strip of first aid and gestured for her to take it. Cautiously, she stretched out her trembling right hand to receive the bandages and he couldn't help feeling annoyed at the wariness in her actions, (did she think that he was going to hurt her?) yet gave it to her nonetheless.

"Thank you Rukawa-kun…" her dark navy eyes pierced his own with blatant happiness but her smile was strained; she hadn't finished talking yet. "…but I can't use this or else my family and friends will notice and be worried–"

The teenager rolled his eyes and sighed impatiently, snatching the object from her with his left hand and held her arm with the bruise with his right. Ignoring her words of protest, Rukawa placed the end of the bandage on her wrist, his eyes flitting to meet hers in a silent request. She pursed her lips uneasily, and tucked her chestnut coloured locks behind her ear before managing a small nod.

Taking her gesture as a silent affirmation, he proceeded to wrap the bandage around her swollen wrist; his eyes often shifted their gaze from her damaged arm to her face to search for any signs of discomfort as he tended to her wrist as gently as he was possibly capable of, every bone in his body willing him to ensure he didn't hurt the fragile girl any further. He was confused as to how someone like _him _(violent, detached, cold) was capable of being so… soft. It was odd for him, having to treat someone like a fragile little flower when he was used to handling things roughly.

After finally managing to patch up her injured hand (taking a lot longer and a lot more effort than he realised), he looked up to check (once again) for any signs of pain but instead found himself staring into clearly confused azure irises. She seemed to be even more baffled than he was at his actions (did he appear _that _heartless to her? Was that how everyone saw him?). She bit her lip, uncertain what to do next with his sapphire eyes staring so intently into her own. All of a sudden her eyes crinkled and her lips curved into a beatific smile, happiness radiating off her being as she whispered sincerely, "Thank you, Rukawa-kun." before leaving the basketball court, the smile secretly never leaving her face.

5 minutes had passed since her departure and he had yet to move a muscle. Her smile was imprinted into his mind and his face felt oddly warm. His nose twitched from some unknown source of irritation and his hand automatically brushed against the button of his nose. (How odd, he's never had the desire to scratch his nose before…). As he walked towards his bicycle, he could feel his heart beat gradually slowing down (when did his heart rate speed up?).

Rukawa cycled home, more confused than he'd ever been in his entire life.

* * *

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	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the late updates! I hope this chapter is worth the wait! :)**

* * *

Following the incident shared between the two Shohoku students at the basketball court that evening, everything returned back to its normal pace; Rukawa continued being Shohoku's heartless ace whilst Haruko remained an anonymous admirer of his skills once more. However, since Takenori had noticed that his baby sister managed to awaken Rukawa from his precious slumber and lived to tell the tale, he took full advantage of it.

Much to Haruko's horror _(sure, she loved Kaede with the intensity of a thousand suns but she knew that waking him up was something akin to Russian roulette: she was sure to die at some point.)_ and Rukawa's displeasure, the younger Akagi was assigned the duty of disrupting the ace's sleep whenever he was late for basketball training because of it.

Although such occasions were generally quite rare, Rukawa would much rather be able to punish the idiot and teach them a lesson for disturbing his peaceful moments. Instead, he had to hold himself back because their captain _knew _he wouldn't hit a girl. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), Haruko was the only face he saw when being brought back to reality. Not wanting to repeat another episode of a bruised wrist (all that guilt was annoying), he took it upon himself to be able to recognise her subtle scent and her soothing voice (but if he was being entirely honest, he'd admit that it wasn't very difficult to distinguish in the first place) to prevent himself from lashing out at her and causing any unnecessary drama which could distract him from basketball.

And so, life went on…

* * *

_Dribble to the right, shoot. _

_Dribble to the left, shoot._

_Cross lay-up from the right to the left._

_Fade-away jump shot._

As usual every shot that left Rukawa's fingers had managed to successfully land in the basket; the ceremonious 'swish' of the ball passing through the net was the only sound of encouragement that reached his ears; the only thing that urged him onwards to continue his training.

The sound of victory.

Normally, any person would spend a few moments basking in the glorious moment of a successful shot, but not Kaede. He was far too greedy; one basket was not enough. Therefore, in order to satisfy his ears' cravings for that 'swish' sound, Shohoku's ace vigorously attacked the basket once more with a series of continuous shots (all of which went in, of course).

His teammates often describe him as hardworking, talented and dedicated but they didn't understand.

Basketball wasn't _work _to him, it was a _drug. _

The moment the ball dropped gracefully through the net Rukawa rushed towards it; his fingertips itched to feel its rubbery surface once more. As a child, he had many choices in life. Never in his existence has he ever regretted choosing this beloved sport, and the sweet taste of the most recent victories served as a reminder for his correct decision in life.

However, the bitterness of their few defeats against those lucky teams brought him down from his high. Shaking his head discreetly, he continued practicing. The winter tournament was approaching and he needed to beat Shoyo and Ryonan once more in order to become the best at his game.

He _will _become the best.

_Swish._

He _will _defeat Sendoh.

"Haruko-san!"

_Thud._

His nose twitched again and his hand automatically reached up to rub it in irritation once more. Grabbing his towel Rukawa trudged towards the changing rooms, ignoring the inquisitive eyes of his teammates and the unsatisfied feeling of missing his last shot of the day.

"Haruko-san is sooo kind! She cooked for me!" the stupid baka constantly boasted of his 'achievement' to the rest of Shohoku's team in the changing rooms, completely unaware of the fact that their captain was right next to hi-

_SMACK._

"Stay away from my sister!"

And just for old times' sake, Rukawa was more than obliged to put the idiot in his place with a simple, "Do-ahou."

Honestly, Kaede couldn't understand why Hanamichi was so infatuated with the younger Akagi. He would always announce her presence during training sessions resulting in _everyone_ being momentarily distracted by his annoyingly loud voice. What irritated him even further was the fact that the girl of his affections actually bothered to support him and be nice to him. Didn't she realise that she's just leading him on? She's only encouraging him to act more like an idiot; the team definitely didn't need that. She should just stop trying and treat him the way he deserves to be treated: like a pest.

Sighing, the star player exited the changing room into the basketball court where their team manager was conversing with Haruko. The latter attempted to subtly sneak a peek at him but ended up catching his gaze. Blushing profusely, her attention was brought back to the smirking Ayako.

Stepping outside the court, Rukawa was immediately greeted by the moon's gentle beams, casting a glow about his figure as the darkness of the night embraced his presence. He quite liked the silence that night time brought and often found himself relating the moon's solitude to his own: the moon shone at its brightest when it was alone with no clouds for company. His true talents were only displayed without the help of his teammates. Just because he was alone didn't mean he was lonely.

It was during his journey home (on his faithful pink bicycle) that his brain followed the same routine, the same trail of thoughts. Firstly he would plan out techniques to overcome other extremely talented players like Sendoh, Maki, Fujima or even Mitsui to an extent. He would mentally assess their statistics, prying for any weaknesses that he could exploit and use to his advantage in future matches. Then, he would evaluate his own team's strongest players: Takenori, Mitsui, Miyagi, Kogure and (dare he say it) the stupid do-ahou. His brain would evaluate their strengths and see how he could benefit from their strong suits in upcoming matches in the inter-high.

Soon after his mind would drift further into the future. He would become Japan's number 1 high school basketball player and then further his career in America only to find another nagging voice in his head reminding him of Coach Anzai's previous student's failure in the very same place. Doubts would worm into his mind at this point and he'd find himself fearing the possibility that basketball may not have been destined for him. Yet he would silently reprimand himself for thinking so negatively: he had placed all his bets on this sport and he'd be damned if he backed out now.

For the sake of breaking his regular routine, Rukawa decided to do the unthinkable and imagine something not basketball related. Much to his surprise, his thoughts wandered to a few weeks ago where an odd turn of events had occurred: a girl had successfully woken him up. Not any girl, but their captain's younger sister to be precise. It was an odd memory and he was slightly perturbed at the fact that the gentle Haruko of all people had managed to rouse him from slumber by a soft murmur of his name when the violent Hanamichi was incapable of doing so with his bothersome head-butts.

Expecting her to be some rowdy boy, Kaede had lashed out at the girl the moment he gained consciousness. But now he had stooped low enough to hurt a _girl_, (if it was a fan-girl, he probably wouldn't have cared though) and that was _low_. Of course guilt had eaten at him when he saw her try to cover up the bruise, and he didn't like the new feeling she had given him so naturally he would do whatever it took to eliminate the unwanted emotion and continue his routine. So he _definitely _didn't expect to be speculating on her (exquisite) physical features when he bandaged her wrist. In his defence, that was probably one of the first few times that he had been so close to a person of the opposite gender (who hadn't tried to seduce him).

That wasn't the reason why her image was still trapped in his mind.

He had seen many females his age who were easy on the eyes; she wasn't any different in that area. In fact, she was only slightly above average in the looks department if he were to truly assess her appearance. Then again, he never really paid attention to such unimportant matters (but he was still a teenage boy after all!).

It was her smile.

That slight upward tilt of her lips into a small yet captivating smile; the petite crease of a dimple that formed below the edge of her mouth; it was those miniscule details that enthralled him. Her eyes had crinkled so that only a small speck of her blue irises were visible; it was then that he realised how big her eyes normally were in comparison to the size they shrunk to when she smiled.

Rukawa never spoke much because he believed that actions spoke louder than words. Passing the basketball to his comrades showed how much he valued them (although the chances of that happening in a game were very often close to zero); allowing their center and power forward to be in charge of the rebounds showed his trust in their skills. If their team's morale was low, he would not hesitate to perform an awe-inspiring shot to raise their spirits. Whenever the ball was placed in his hands by a teammate, he would do whatever it takes to make sure it landed in the net to show that he appreciated the trust they put in him and that he will not let them down. A pat on the back would symbolize recognition of his efforts.

That smile from Haruko showed her gratefulness for him bandaging her wrist…

Why was she so happy? He couldn't comprehend how one simple action from him could give her so much joy. That was probably the most genuine smile he had ever received from anyone (not that he actually bothered to make people happy) and they were barely even acquaintances.

It disturbed him, how she could be so easily pleased by others. He was irritated at how naturally she could smile, as if it was second to nature for her. How could she be so …_cheerful_?

Hmph. What an annoyance.

* * *

It was break time and Rukawa was making his way to his usual spot at the rooftop when two voices seized his attention. To be exact, it wasn't exactly the voices but the contents of the conversation that captured his interest.

"Face it; Shohoku doesn't have any capable basketball players. It's because of Rukawa-kun's skills that they even made it to Nationals." He couldn't recognise the fan-girl with the snobby tone since the majority of the female population in Shohoku shared the same stuck-up personality along with the identical snooty voices.

"You're wrong!"

But he definitely knew the owner of _that_ voice.

"Hmph. You would disrespect your sempai, Haruko?"

"No…" he heard the tremble in her voice and was unimpressed at Haruko's lack of confidence. Kaede was about to continue his trek towards the rooftop when she spoke again, "I have no right to talk to you in such a manner, just as you have no right to disrespect oni-chan's basketball team!"

"Oh Haruko, you are such a naïve girl." A chorus of feminine voices backed up the older student yet the captain's younger sister carried on, ignoring the sounds of disapproval thrown at her.

"There's more to Shohoku than just Rukawa-kun! We have oni-chan: the best center in Kanagawa! Mitsui-sempai was the junior MVP and Miyagi-sempai is the number one point guard in the prefecture! Kogure-sempai also throws amazing three pointers! And we can't forget our Rebound King Sakuragi-kun! Everyone in the basketball team worked so hard to get where they are, how can you just ignore all of that?"

Silence ensued in the classroom at Haruko's uncharacteristic outburst. Rukawa's moved his foot – which was halted in mid-air since the start of her small speech, down onto the concrete floor of their hallway as he proceeded along the corridor when once again a voice propelled him to stay in place.

"If that's the case, then why does Rukawa-kun always get points on his own without the help of his teammates?" although the question itself sounded like a challenge, the student who voiced the enquiry did so not to spite the younger Akagi, but out of genuine curiosity. The occupants of the classroom remained silent, eager to hear Haruko's reply. Even Rukawa hovered near the classroom to catch what she'd say. But when she said it, nobody saw it coming.

"Maybe," she whispered uncertainly, "maybe he's just as foolish as all of you."

Although her voice was soft, everyone managed to her hear resulting in a momentary silence of shock. The girl who caused the stillness took this opportunity to slip away from the classroom and return back to her own when her body stilled.

"Rukawa-kun, I…"

A harsh glare from said person's azure orbs silenced her pitiful excuses as he shoved past her to the rooftop to continue his usual routine.

* * *

What right did she have to comment on _his _style of play? As if she could do even _half_ the stunts he pulled.

If he was being honest, she was probably abusing the title of being the captain's sister. Their team was _nothing _without him: everyone knew that, so did she. What was her issue with him? First she constantly wakes him up and nags him (well she doesn't _nag _him but he's angry so... whatever) to go for basketball practice. Wasn't she the one who said that the team needed him there at practices?

Whatever, she probably just wanted more attention from him.

He should just ignore her. Ignore the urge to slam dunk the basketball onto her head (like that do'ahou did to that _bigger _do'ahou in the first game); ignore the urge to run her over with his pink bike; ignore the urge to...

Stop.

She's a girl.

An annoying girl.

But a girl nonetheless.

Besides, since when did _her _opinion of him matter so much? It never did and never will (_liar_). Yet to think that she had the audacity to call him a _fool _for not passing the ball to his teammates all the time (_he does pass, just not often. Why should he when he can get the basket himself?) _made his blood boil. How _dare _she insult his basketball skills? He worked harder than all of them put together, only to be put down by some measly brunette.

He'd show her she's wrong.

* * *

If there was an award for the biggest idiot, Haruko knew she'd be the winner of that prize. What on earth possessed her to say such words, in front of a group of his fan girls nonetheless? When she saw him outside the classroom, his eyes glared at her with contempt and she literally shivered from the icy coldness of his gaze.

Yet she refused to back down. No matter how deeply in love she was with Kaede, her eyes were not deceived from his selfish play. He needed to trust his teammates, his selfishness was his only weakness. She knew basketball was the only thing in his heart, and in order for him to truly become a basketball legend and achieve his goals, she'd willingly help him become the best player he could be. Even if it meant he'd hate her for saying what she had said. If only he would pass to them more, appreciate their skills, then he'd truly be unstoppable.

* * *

The younger Akagi sat beside the team manager, engaging in friendly conversation with the senior as all the Shohoku players did their drills. When Haruko gazed at the basketball court, she was surprised to see the cold-hearted beauty staring (or more like glaring) at her. _'He still hasn't forgiven me for eariler... well who would?' _Casting a nervous smile at the angry highschooler, her eyes caught sight of the back of his hand rubbing viciously against his nose before turning back to Ayako.

"Is Rukawa-kun sick? He's been rubbing his nose quite a lot recently..."

Raising a shaped eyebrow at her junior, Ayako replied "He seems pretty healthy to me. I'll pay more attention to him next time."

Both girls proceeded to watch the boys play full-court games.

Rukawa was on fire as usual, stealing the ball from complacent players who left their dribbling hands unguarded, and screening out the ever-so-energetic do'ahou, besting him in rebounding for the day. The ball was in his hands as he leisurely strolled up to his opponent's half of the court, allowing the steady rhythm emitted from the ball's constant collision to soothe him momentarily. This is where he belonged. This is what he'd be doing for the rest of his life. He had no regrets whatsoever.

"Go Rukawa-kun!"

An image of chestnut-brown hair and cerulean eyes popped into his mind and her earlier words fueled his energy. He was confused as to how a few hours ago she had insulted him yet right now she was supporting him.

Nevertheless, he said he'd prove her wrong and he was a man of his word.

He dribbled up to the basket with ease - bypassing a furious Hanamichi on the way, only to be face-to-face with their captain. Takenori's arms were spread out, anticipating Kaede's forced shot. Everyone - on and off the court, held their breath, waiting for another awe-inspiring move from Shohoku's ace. Said player smirked and jumped, with the ball raised in his arms.

_'If it's a show they want...'_

He pushed the ball with the fingers on his right hand, passing it to his left into the surprised hands of Miyagi Ryota. The point guard - although shocked at their ace's actions, charged forward swiftly to finish their attack with a lay-up.

_'...then they should find an actor.'_

Rukawa smirked at the confused expression on Takenori's gorilla-like face. He approahced the point guard after his shot and their hands met in a high five, Kaede muttered a "Good job," before walking away and leaving a bewildered Ryota behind. He casted a glance towards Haruko and - after basking in the moments of her amazement, made his way into the changing room. Practice was over.

* * *

**Mehh. Does anyone else think I'm going too fast?**

**REVIEW.**

_**yt247**_


	3. Chapter 3

**PLEASE DON'T SHOOT ME. I know I owe you guys a huge explanation for this super late update. But the 'I've been so busy' excuse has been overused! If it makes you all feel better, I haven't been able to update any of the other fan fics either!**

**Well, I'll try not to delay it as much as I did for this chapter next time.**

**I'M SO SORRY!**

* * *

Rukawa couldn't ignore the smug satisfaction that swelled in his chest when he saw the look of pure awe displayed on the younger Akagi's face. Of course, this is what happens when you underestimate Rukawa Kaede. Yet what worried him was the fact that he actually _bothered _to make her eat her words. The ace player couldn't remember the last time anyone's words managed to spark up a flame in him and wondered why he went out of his way for his captain's sister. To him, she wasn't even half as important as people like Sendoh, Maki or even her brother Takenori.

The sound of running water drowned out both his thoughts and the voices of his teammates (they were in the school's shower areas after all); an inaudible sigh left his lips as droplets of cool water trickled down his skin, dripping off his fingertips to merge with other droplets as they flow down the pipe. His tense muscles relaxed under the soothing touch of ice cold water; he couldn't help but groan at the comforting sensation.

When he cycled home that night, Kaede came to the conclusion that he had taken Haruko's snarky comment on his style of play as a challenge for him, hence his fierce determination to prove her wrong and the feeling of accomplishment that washed over him when he surprised not only the girl, but everyone in court that night. Which brought up a question:

Did _everyone _expect him to go solo?

Was he _that _predictable?

* * *

The days that followed blurred together like a pastel painting; nothing differentiated a Tuesday from a Friday. There were no highlights or special events that emphasized a particular day, and for a week the number of hours in each day doubled for him. Rukawa's life seemed to be at a standstill – a pause, and he had yet to find that push to get him back on track.

That push came to him on a Thursday evening after another intense practise session of basketball. "Gather round, Shohoku!" Captain Takenori bellowed and almost immediately all the members of Shohoku's basketball team gathered round in both fear and excitement at what the gorilla had to say.

Everyone except Hanamichi, who seemed to be animatedly running around the court in circles.

"OIII BAKA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"But GORII! Haruko-san isn't here! Where is my lovely Haruko-san?!" the redhead looked like he was about to burst into tears. Rukawa scoffed at the moron's over-exaggerated facial expression yet couldn't help but wonder where was the girl today? He was pretty sure she showed up to every training session; who else would have been shouting "Go Rukawa-kun!"

How odd.

That itch on his nose was back again. His hands reached upwards to relieve his nose from the sudden irritation and his ears caught a snigger from Mitsui's direction.

"He's doing it again."

Kaede's eyes discreetly flitted towards Mitsui and Ryota and he frowned. To his dismay, his seniors noticed his glance and had the audacity to wave at him with shit-eating grins on both their faces. What on earth were they talking about?

No matter. He's still better than both of them combined at basketball.

And that's all that matters.

"We'll be having a practise game against Ryonan in four days time!" Surprised gasps and enthusiastic cheers resounded in the gym. "I know this is short notice, but we've trained hard enough so we'll definitely thrash them on the day! However, that doesn't mean we can slack away now!"

A smirk crept onto his lips as a spark of determination flared in his blue irises. _Of course _they'll win, he'd make sure of it.

After the short announcement, the basketballers of Shohoku high school returned to their drills and exercises with a renewed vigour.

Four days passed by at an achingly sluggish pace (even slower than the previous week) and by Monday Rukawa was restless for some good (okay fine, _decent_) competition. In fact, he craved a good match so badly that he decided that it would actually be a _good idea _if the do'ahou was in starting five: that way not only would Rukawa be dominating the score board but their team would also be more evenly matched with Ryonan (because it was _obvious _that Hanamichi would lower the strength of Shohoku's basketball team) and Rukawa would have more of a challenge playing against Ryonan _and _Sakuragi (his mess-ups were normally beneficial for the opposing team anyway).

The others be damned, the moment the ball lands in Kaede's hands, the next place it'll be is in the basket.

After all, the only person he could really trust was himself.

When he checked that he packed his basketball kit in his bag, the number 1 rookie slid onto his faithful pink bike, popped his earphones in and dozed off as he cycled to school – with some minor interruptions (_crashing into a tree, crashing into a person, crashing into a lamp post, etc.)_.

* * *

"Where's Haruko-san?" Sakuragi bellowed like the uncouth beast that he was, "Her love gives me strength!"

"What does it matter to you baka!" captain roared, "stay away from my sister!"

"But Haruko-san always comes to cheer for the tensai!"

Rukawa resisted the urge to make a retort – for once, and decided to focus on his strategy for the day's game. The idiot wasn't worth wasting his efforts on.

"Defense! Defense! Defense!"

15 minutes had passed since the start of the game and the score was 34-28 to Shohoku; both teams were fired up and everyone could feel the intensity of the match. The players on the court were pushing their physical abilities to their limits; the team members, managers and coaches continuously voiced their support with endless words of support; even the cheerleaders seemed to be kicking their legs higher and shrieking to a whole new level of loudness.

Once again the two players who captured the crowd's interest were Akira Sendoh and Rukawa Kaede. Whilst the latter seemed to be applying his normal strategy of going solo, the older student had a scheming smile set upon his handsome features; Sendoh's calculating eyes seemed to have devised a new plan to overcome Ryonan's opponents.

Of course, Rukawa was just as insightful and noticed the odd expression on his rival's face. _What did he have up his sleeve? _

Just as Shohoku's ace's mind started to wander, Sendoh whizzed passed him – dribbling the ball rapidly at a very low height towards the basket. He easily glided past Mitsui's defense however, fortunately enough for Shohoku, their point guard Miyagi Ryota was quick to steal possession of the ball and slow down the pace of the game for his teammates to catch up and prepare for a counterattack.

* * *

"Time out, Ryonan!"

As the away team gathered to discuss their following strategies, Shohoku did the same. However, whilst Ryonan was planning out their next moves to change the scoreboard to their favor, Shohoku was finding ways to keep their lead. Of course, Coach Anzai was always prepared with a plan.

"Ryonan will be eager to score points as quickly as possible to increase their morale as soon as the second half starts, so we must have a strong defense ready. However, we don't want to waste too much energy using a man-to-man defense, so we will go for a zone. Sakuragi-kun and Rukawa-kun will be at the back on both sides of the basket with Akagi-kun infront of the basket to make a triangle. Mitsui-kun and Miyoga-kun will be just outside the 3 point line. Does everybody understand?"

"YES COACH!" they chorused in reply. The players slowly made their way back to the court when-

"Sorry I'm late!"

-Haruko Akagi appeared at the gym entrance dressed in a yellow t-shirt and white shorts. Her hair was done in two braids, framing her face and resting slightly below her shoulders. Her cheeks were flushed red and her breathing was laboured. Beads of sweat rolled down the side of her face-

Rukawa forced himself to stop analysing her face (since when did he start doing _that _anyway?) and blatantly looked the other way ignoring the suddenly persistent itch in his nose. "Our volleyball class just finished so I got here as quickly as I could. I didn't miss much did I?"

"Haruko-san! You've come just in time to see the tensai play!"

"Do-ahou, stop getting distracted."

"Look who's talking," Rukawa's eyes snapped towards the source of the voice and found himself unleashing a glare (that even the devil himself would cower from) towards a sniggering Ryota and Mitsui. Once again, the shit-eating grin was fixed upon their faces.

"OI! Get back to the court! The game's about to continue!"

* * *

The first half was near its end with the score as 56-54, Shohoku leading by 2 points. However, it was obvious that Ryonan was slowly catching up and still had a chance to turn out the victor. A fierce battle ensued, with Shohoku trying to maintain its lead and Ryonan waiting for the moment where their opponents leave an opening.

It was Shohoku's ball, seeing as Sendoh had just scored a 2 point lay-up. Ryota dribbled the ball slowly as his eyes assessed the current positions of his teammates on the court, planning out their next strategy when he noticed that the player marking Sakuragi had drifted off slightly.

"Sakuragi!"

The moment the ball landed in Sakuragi's hands, he was doubled marked by both Fukuda and Ikigasu. After a failed attempt to break away from the double team, Hanamichi had no choice but to pass.

"Hey!" Rukawa's hand shot up to call for the ball, but of course the result was always the same.

"There's no way in hell that I'll pass to you!" Hanamichi shrieked and instead chucked the ball towards a very unprepared Mitsui….

Which resulted in the ball slamming into the 3-pointer's face with brute force…

And rebounded straight off his face into the hands of Rukawa.

Eager to land a basket, Shohoku's ace used his adrenaline rush to his advantage and sprinted towards the basket dribbling at a furiously fast pace. As he ducked under Ikigasu's outstretched arms and spun around Sendoh's figure to shoot, Rukawa failed to remember another vital member to Ryonan's team.

Jun Uozumi.

By the time Kaede noticed his presence it was too late; the moment the ball slipped out of his fingertips it was swatted away into Sendoh's awaiting hands, where they initiated a fast break towards Shohoku's basket with Fukuda scoring a lay-up.

'_TIME'S UP, THE FIRST HALF IS OVER.'_

The score was 56 – 56.

* * *

"Ano… Rukawa-kun?"

Said person raised an eyebrow upwards and directed his glance towards the younger Akagi.

"Umm…" pressing the tips of her index fingers together in a bashful manner, Haruko spoke up in a timid voice, "You're doing very well…"

'_As I thought, this was a waste of my time,' _he was about to ignore her and her useless compliments when…

"But please! Give the others a chance too!"

He stopped moving.

She continued speaking quietly enough for only him to hear it "We all know how amazing you are at basketball… but everyone else has been working really hard too! You don't have to do this on your own."

How.

Dare.

She.

This _stupid _girl thinks that just because she's the captain's sister, just because she woke him up from his naps and _survived, _just because he bandaged her wrist out of _guilt_, she suddenly has the right to tell _him _how to play _basketball._

_Nobody _has ever dared to critic his basketball skills to his face, yet this little _loser _thinks she can?

He turned around to face the girl who _thought _she knew everything about him – his eyes bearing holes into her enchanting irises, and slowly walked up to her, his body trembling with rage, until their bodies were almost touching. However, just before he spoke, Rukawa was hit with a whiff of her enticing vanilla scent and his body was soothed by the warm glow of heat that radiated off her body. He was momentarily distracted the way she bit her lip in fear that she had said something wrong when he remembered, she _did _say something wrong.

"You're annoying." He muttered harshly by her ear, "Stay out of my way."

Then he made to move back to the court, pretending that he never had this conversation with his captain's sister, pretending that a few seconds ago he wasn't close enough _feel _the way her breath caught when he uttered those words.

* * *

Shohoku won the practise match at a score of 85-77, with Rukawa Kaede scoring a total of 60 points. Yet, as he was swarmed with a crowd of people and their congratulations, Haruko's words prior to the second half crept into his mind once more.

'_Please give the others a chance too!'_

As the basketball players assembled in an orderly line to wish each other a 'good game,' Shohoku's ace paid attention to the spirits of his team members for the first time that day.

Perhaps for the first time since they played together.

Although they all wore a victorious grin on their faces, he could see the underlying unstatisfaction that they all kept so well hidden. Well, except for the moron of course.

"THAT WAS A BORING GAME. I NEVER GOT THE CHANCE TO SHOOT BECAUSE OF THAT STUPID FOX!"

"Now now, Hanamichi," the ever-so-calm Kogure intercepted with the idiot's tantrum, "You'll get a chance in the next game!"

Now that Rukawa thought of it, he found it ironic how everyone took the time to placate the moron when they all feel the same way. He could see their negative emotions that they so carefully suppressed behind their cheerful façade and he wondered, _why do they bother?_

And how did he know that they all shared that feeling of unsatisfaction and restlessness within them?

He himself felt it everyday after basketball training. Simply because he knew he could perform better than in those training sessions.

It was funny how Rukawa always thought himself different from the rest of the Shohoku members when all along they all share the same feelings. Sparring a glance at Shohoku's bench warmers, he silently berated himself for not noticing the glow of envy in their eyes as they watched the crowd swoon over the starting (and ending) 5, waiting for their chance to be in the limelight.

If Rukawa was in their place, he'd probably feel the same way.

After all he's just a teenage boy too.

As Shohoku's ace continued to observe the expressions of his schoolmates after the game, his gaze fell upon the captain's sister. Haruko was chatting amiably with the team manager with a small smile plastered on her face. His mind reverted back to the night where he bandaged her wrist; her smile that evening was so radiant that it made an imprint in his mind. Looking at her face now it was obvious.

Her 'cheerful face' was just an act.

Unlike that evening her brilliant blue eyes didn't wrinkle in glee, nor did her petite nose crinkle in genuine delight. No dimple indented itself on her right cheek; her lips were barely lifted a fraction higher.

Yet nobody noticed the difference.

Perhaps it was because she was always seen as the Shohoku's cheerful supporter, the girl who would offer the players moral support with her thousand-watt smile. Everyone expected her to always be happy; it was one of the few unspoken constants for the basketball team (just like Sakuragi's idiocy).

How many of Akagi Haruko's smiles were fake?

"Haruko-san! Did you see the tensai's skillful rebounds?!"

Sakuragi was an ever bigger do-ahou than he thought.

For a moron who constantly proclaimed his everlasting love for the captain's sister, Rukawa couldn't understand why the idiot didn't take notice of her unhappy expression. Wasn't he supposed to be paying attention to her? It was rather ironic that Shohoku's ace – the player that was well known for his lack of interest in the female population, was more aware of the captain's sister than the loser who only joined the basketball squad to impress her.

Wait. That's not what he meant.

He didn't _pay more attention _to Haruko than the do-ahou.

He was just…. more observant.

…yeah.

"Rukawa," a deep voice bellowed, breaking him out of his reverie. Once he woke up from his daydream, he realised that he was still staring intently at the younger Akagi and quickly turned away from her – absentmindedly rubbing his nose to rid himself of the sudden itch that appeared, to face her older brother. "Good game. You did well today."

As he mumbled a quiet 'thanks' he realised that while he was completely satisfied with the way the game ended (after all, he was _top scorer_) and felt readily exhausted, Takenori looked as though he had only played 5 minutes worth and was still able to play another whole game.

Was Rukawa really so selfish as to steal the game for himself?

Did he really not give his teammates a chance?

As his captain walked towards the rest of the (restless) Shohoku players, Rukawa sighed and followed suit.

Victory never tasted so bitter.

* * *

**So that concludes chapter 3. I'm not quite sure if this chapter is as decent as the previous 2, but that's why I'm hoping that you will be kind enough to leave me a review and tell me what I can improve on. **

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**HEY EVERYONE! I hope you tolerate the crappiness of this chapter, I don't know what possessed me to write like this, but I'm sorry anyway!**

**Hmmmm, I recently watched Pitch Perfect for the first time (yeah I know, I'm SOO BEHIND) and I loved it! I've got all their song covers and even downloaded the movie clips of when they sing and you guys probably don't care so I'm going to stop talking and let you continue with the fic! :)**

**ENJOYYY!**

* * *

The days that followed the game with Ryonan were of no importance. By the next training session (the following evening) the Shohoku members were all back to their normal selves and their ace was just as cold-hearted as ever, or perhaps even more so. Rukawa figured that if his teammates had a problem with his playing style, they'd confront him about it themselves. In the meanwhile, he had more important matters to attend to.

The match against Shoyo would commence in two weeks' time.

Since this was the last opportunity for him to battle it out against the 3rd years in Shoyo, Rukawa would be damned if he didn't give it his all. Now that Sendoh had been taken care of (for the moment), he had to move on to the next 2 targets he would destroy: Kenji Fujima and Hanagata Toru.

Determination and a lust for power coursed through his veins as he expertly did a one-man alley-oop. Everyone in the gym paused their actions just to focus on his successful shot.

Silence.

Cheers and gasps suddenly erupted from a crowd (that _no one_ had noticed in the court) as they commended the ace for his unbelievable basket. _'What fools, as if they know how much training when into that shot.' _Rukawa's eyes scanned the mob of fan girls (when did _they _get here anyway?) when somewhere in his mind, he registered the absence of a particular idiot (no… not Sakuragi).

Five days passed from the practice game against Ryonan; five days had passed since he last told her to 'stay out of his way,' and she had yet to show up to a single basketball practice. It seems like she really heeded his words.

For some reason, he wasn't so sure how he felt about that.

But she deserved it anyway. Since when did the little Akagi get a backbone? It seemed that hanging around the do'ahou seemed to have taken its toll on her; it's obvious that his stupidity was contagious and that she was among the unlucky souls who contracted it.

Perfect. That's _another _reason why Rukawa should stay away from her.

To be honest, he wouldn't have actually noticed her absence if it wasn't for-

"HARUKO-SAN ISN'T HERE AGAIN!"

-_that _moron.

"URUSAI BAKA!"

Yet he couldn't help but ponder the possibility that her brother was aware of what he said to her. If Takenori did know, why hadn't he done anything to defend his sister? Knowing the gorilla, he'd probably sentence Rukawa to an extra hour of basketball drills (which he wouldn't have minded doing anyway). Seeing as the captain wasn't shooting him death glares at the mention of his sister's name, Kaede guessed that she hadn't told him.

He found himself picturing a very angry gorilla-looking Takenori throwing bananas at him with a teary-eyed Haruko hiding behind her brother's back; if he was Sakuragi, he'd probably start crying on the spot at the idea of making his beloved 'Haruko-san' cry.

But he was Rukawa Kaede, so his face portrayed no indication whatsoever of what was running through his mind.

"FOCUS ON YOUR TRAINING!"

For a moment, Rukawa thought that their captain directed that statement towards him which was proven when he saw the gorilla pick up the idiot by the back of his shirt like he was a lost puppy. But then his common sense kicked in…_of course _there's no way he could have been talking to-

"Don't slack off, Rukawa!"

Said player turned around and found himself glaring fiercely at the previous MVP player, his suspicions heightened by the mischievous glint in his sempai's eyes.

The cheeky bastard.

What did he have in mind?

"You can't blame him though," Shohoku's point guard piped in, which only added to the ace player's suspicions, "It's not like there's anyone around for him to impress today…"

Anyone for him to _impress?_

Sakuragi's idiocy really _is_ contagious.

Besides, to suggest that there was a person that he would normally impress means that there is a particular someone's attention he is trying to catch. And judging by the foreboding smirks on their faces; it's more than obvious that they're talking about a _girl._

Rukawa needed to find a cure for stupidity fast.

He already had a group of girls that scream like banshees for every shot he makes, why would he want any of their affections?

Unless they weren't talking about his fan girls.

An image of chestnut coloured locks coupled with bewitching cerulean irises flashed through his mind. He snorted at the thought of Haruko being the girl they're implying. But he couldn't stop himself from picturing her wide smile and captivating scent.

Then he remembered the disappointed look on her face five days ago and the pathetic excuse for a smile she used to cover it up.

"I don't know what you morons are talking about," he mumbled – whether it was to his seniors or himself was unknown.

And if the scheming pair didn't know whom he had in mind at first, the discreet nose twitch was more than a subtle giveaway.

They looked at each other with knowing smiles on their lips.

* * *

"Rukawa-kun."

It was lunchtime and the basketball player was looking for some peace and quiet; as usual he found solace at the rooftops.

Until she came along.

He made no move to acknowledge her presence, hoping that it would discourage her and send her away. But unfortunately, Haruko had also contracted Sakuragi's unwavering determination _along _with his stupidity.

He heard the light pitter-patter of her footsteps – cautious and hesitant, as she slowly approached him. The scent of cherry blossoms drifted through the air and embraced him, _'That's odd; she must have changed her perfume.' _

After silently berating himself for such thoughts, Rukawa forced himself to focus on the words coming out of her mouth.

"…a-and I'm sorry to be bothering you at an inappropriate time…"

'_No, you're not. If you really were sorry, you wouldn't be here at all.'_

"…I just thought I should apologise for what I said to you during the match against Ryonan."

'_Ahh, so there it is. Maybe there is a cure for stupidity…'_

"I was out of line." Her eyes were brimmed with tears, while one drop managed to separate itself from the rest and trail down her flushed cheeks, disappearing into the corner of her trembling lips. "I'm so sorry for questioning your basketball skills, and just annoying you in general. I w-won't disturb you anymore."

It took her long enough to realise that her presence was never really appreciated, but now that she did, Rukawa didn't know what to think. Sure, she was an ignorant brat who never took 'no' for an answer, but she was one of the very few people that actually bothered about him.

Since he was a very observant person, it was child's play for him to separate lies from truths during conversations. In fact, it was one of the main reasons why he hated talking to people, because he could tell whether they were being honest or not (and he'd much rather do without the revelation).

To him, all her expressions were genuine and easy to read, so it was obvious that she did feel something for him. Heck, she bothered to even make her way here just to apologise to him. She was too nice for her own good.

And if he was someone else, he might have even returned those feelings.

But he was Rukawa Kaede.

The nonchalant attitude was back in place; if Haruko even thought for one second that he was intrigued by her genuine compassion, his flawless façade proved otherwise.

She cared too much about him for it to be platonic. He could see it in the way that her smile was never as bright for others as it was when she smiled for him (of course he had solely based it on that one night that he bandaged her wrist). He could see it in the way she was so desperate for him to attend practise that she would even _wake him up_ (once again, he ignored the fact that it was her brother – the _captain, _who was the one who requested of her to do so). He could see it in the way she concerned herself with the flaws of his playing techniques (yet he never wanted to admit that _sometimes_ she was right).

It made him wonder, what was so great about him that would make a gentle person like Haruko fall for him? He could understand the rabid fan girls: they were only interested in him for his looks and his 'bad boy' personality. But with Haruko, he knew she was trying to look past the walls he so carefully built to find the real Rukawa no one ever truly witnessed.

It scared him. So he tried to push her away.

"I don't care."

Yet Haruko's reaction frightened him even more. The pools of tears brought out the blue in her irises with an extra shine and the edges of her trembling lips rose up by the slightest fraction to produce a tender smile. For the second time in his life, Rukawa silently admitted to himself that she was indeed quite a beauty.

"I see…"

But the startling truth was that the ace couldn't tell whether her smile was genuine or fake; she was just as good at hiding her emotions as he was; the only difference was that he hid behind an impassive face while she hid behind her smiles.

Perhaps they were not that different after all.

Upon realising that she was being scrutinised, Haruko turned her face away from his piercing gaze and whispered in a small shaky voice, "I guess I already knew that."

However, before he was able to ponder her words, her bright cheery grin returned. "Well, I take my leave. Ganbatte, Rukawa-kun!"

With that, she turned brusquely on her left foot and proceeded to skip merrily towards the door, leaving behind a very perplexed Rukawa.

'_What just happened?'_

Seeing as no one else was about to surprise him with their presence anytime soon, his hand immediately rushed to his nose – rubbing at it furiously, to relieve himself of the sudden strong itch that appeared.

* * *

"Haruko-saaaan!" Sakuragi Hanamichi exclaimed as he sprinted towards the female student like a starving dog would to a large bone. "Where have you been?"

"Sorry Sakuragi-kun, I've just been very busy with school work lately." Haruko replied in her motherly tone, her fondness for the redhead was quite known (although it certainly was pea sized in comparison to that of Shohoku's ace), "Have you been working hard?"

"The tensai doesn't need to work hard, I'm not like that fox Rukawa!"

At the mention of his name, the younger Akagi's face took on an unreadable expression, yet before anyone could notice her change in demeanour she quickly resorted to her cheery old self. "No Sakuragi-kun, you most certainly aren't."

"Nyahahahahahahahah! That's because I'm so much bet–"

"Sakuragi Hanamichi! Get back to your drills!"

"But Ayako–"

"Don't you dare challenge Aya-chan!"

The redhead sulkily dragged his legs back to his special spot of the gym with his shoulders slumped like a stubborn child while Ayako whacked the back of his head with her deadly paper fan, "Stay focused!"

Haruko giggled at their antics; she realised that in the time she spent avoiding Rukawa (of course he wouldn't have noticed anyway), she missed the Shohoku basketball team members, _all _of them. They were a merry bunch (excluding their ace) and really functioned as a team. Unlike Kainan, they didn't desire to claim the national championship title for fame and recognition, but simply to make her older brother's dream a possibility. They looked out for each other and supported one another, if it wasn't for the compassion of his teammates Shohoku wouldn't have had a fighting chance at all.

As the captain's little sister, Haruko felt she too had to do something to help make her oni-chan's dream come true.

Maybe that's why she tried to talk to Rukawa.

As much as she would love to believe that Rukawa was the perfect basketball player, she knew it wasn't so. Even though she didn't give him enough credit - for he had made some excellent assists here and there, some facts couldn't be ignored.

Rukawa Kaede worked solo.

Haruko didn't need to be a basketball expert to know that Shohoku could only go so far by relying on one player. The other players were definitely good enough to match the strongest teams, but as the _ace _of Shohoku, it was Rukawa's responsibility to communicate with the players and motivate them.

In short, he needed team spirit.

It was at times like this where being an insignificant person in the basketball world had its perks; nobody in Ryonan, Kainan or Shoyo's team recognised the younger Akagi as a Shohoku member; so when the matches were over, she overheard their comments on Rukawa's only flaw and how to exploit it in future games.

Not wanting to worry her older brother with this news, Haruko saw this as an opportunity to repay him for everything he'd done for her (after all, he's always helping her with her maths homework). She had foolishly hoped that she could open Rukawa's eyes to the truth, but the truth came crashing down on her.

And it crashed down _hard._

She was enraptured by his astonishing skills, his cool attitude and his captivating looks. She was blinded into thinking that he was a good person. Despite the many occurrences where he'd proved otherwise, Haruko – being the gentle person she was, tried to see past these moments and look for the good in him. Everyone has some goodness in them right?

She was so naïve, thinking that she'd ever be the person he'd open up to. She honestly believed that he would trust her, that maybe they could have…

"GO RUKAWA-KUUUN!"

The ear piercing screeches were loud enough to be heard by the basketball players in _Kainan._ As Haruko was yanked out of her daydream (and possibly lost most of her sense of hearing in the process), she was silently startled to be staring at a shaking basketball hoop with their ace player hanging effortlessly from it. But that's not what unsettled her.

It was the fact that his penetrating gaze was directed straight at her.

She was at a loss for words.

And it wasn't at the fact that the shot Rukawa pulled screamed 'unbelievable' all over it; it wasn't even because he looked so incredibly sexy hanging from one hand on the hoop. The intensity of his eyes was what rendered her speechless, as though he was _waiting _for her to react to his effortless show of skill.

But she didn't.

* * *

He didn't know why his eyes were glued to her frozen form; all he knew was that amongst all the usual cheers he received, there was one voice missing: hers. When Haruko quickly averted her gaze from him, an unknown feeling settled at the pit of his stomach, a feeling Rukawa was sure wasn't there the last time he looked at her.

What had transpired between them to make him feel like…_ this?_

As far as he was concerned, he never paid any attention to her during the basketball matches. But apparently that wasn't true, or else he wouldn't have even realised that amongst the chorus of cheers he normally received (if you could call it _cheers_), the absence of one particular cheer made all the difference.

"OI KITSUNE! Get off before you break the damn hoop with your fat ass!"

He silently complied.

* * *

As the training session progressed, Rukawa found himself performing more flashy shots and attempting more daring tricks – much to the pleasure of the crowd. However, after every basket he scored, his eyes would subtly dart towards the unsuspecting younger Akagi before he looked away again, secretly resenting how that sinking feeling in his stomach only seemed to go deeper each time.

He wasn't disappointed... was he?

The more his thoughts drifted to the girl on the bench (why was he thinking of her anyway?) the more questions appeared unanswered in his mind. And before he knew it, he realised that - with his mind focused on anything _but _basketball at that moment, he was far too distracted to attempt another shot.

So when Hanamichi sprinted towards the ace - bringing along his insane wall of defense with him, Rukawa simply made eye contact with Takenori, nodded at the basketball hoop and tossed the ball with one hand towards the basket.

"As if that'll ever go in you cocky teme!"

He scanned the crowd of both players and spectators and smirked inwardly at their reactions. Just like the moron, everyone else assumed he was going for the shot.

Hmmm… everyone _minus one._

Surprisingly, while everyone else was gawking at the ball flying freely through the air, Haruko's eyebrows rose up into a delicate arch as she unconsciously clasped her hands together in front of her chest in a praying motion as her eyes were glued to her older brother's form.

The following events were so surreal that it seemed as though everything was in slow-motion: Takenori lunged into the air with a grace that no one expected a large person like him to possess; the ball flew into his hands with such intensity that everyone could hear the contact of ball on skin. Unleashing a ferocious war cry, their captain raised the ball above his head and – using all the force he could muster, slammed the ball through the hoop with so much power that the sound produced was as heavy as thunder.

…

…

…

…

"ALLEY-OOOOOP!"

"GORILLA DUUNNNKKK!"

"CAPTAAIINN!"

After the initial shock wore off, cheers and applause filled the room and as time dwindled on they only seemed to grow louder. The captain of the basketball team was showered with words of praise and was on the receiving end of many looks of awe. If possible, the basketball players' respect for their center grew as they looked to him as a source of ever-growing hope.

Although Rukawa knew that he could have forced his way past Sakuragi and landed the shot in himself, he realised that assisting took a lot less effort and had a lot more results. His teammates never responded to his own shots with as much fascination; they were all probably too used to his lethal skills to be affected anymore. But seeing Akagi – their pillar of strength, combine with their ace to make such a deadly alley-oop really inspired the other players.

In a way, Rukawa was inspired too.

For once, the competitive streak in Rukawa was replaced by the humble respect he had for his captain.

Takenori _deserved _to be recognised, and the ace was proud to be the one to assist him in receiving that recognition.

As he observed the gleeful expression of the players on the basketball court, Kaede could see Haruko's blinding smile from his peripherals. Upon closer inspection, he realised that she wasn't smiling at her brother.

She was smiling at him.

Before he could give himself another opportunity to analyse her flawless facial features (and get himself worked up over it), Rukawa abruptly turned away from her enchanting gaze and – once he realised that the urge to scratch his nose was too big to ignore, discreetly relieved the irritation built there.

The ace quickly looked for the two seniors who would normally take the mickey out of him at this point and heaved an inward sigh of relief when he found that they were preoccupied. He resumed his focus on basketball training for the rest of the session.

* * *

Haruko was pleasantly surprised to not only see the ace give someone else the chance to shine, but for him to give such an opportunity to her brother! She was right! He really did care about the team more than he let on. During the whole basketball practice, she tried her best to discourage him from going solo (as if he would ever notice in the first place). So naturally she was amazed to see him assist her brother in scoring so naturally that it looked like he'd done it every other day of his life.

Now that she thought of it, maybe he did. Maybe she only noticed Rukawa whenever he pulled out those incredible stunts and scored the impossible baskets; maybe she was too focused on seeing him as the glory hunter that she'd discarded any other times when he made successful assists and important passes.

Perhaps there was hope for Rukawa Kaede.

* * *

**This chapter sucked. I think that their relationship is escalating too quickly... do you think I need to slow down? **

**The quality of these chapters may go down a bit seeing as I'm really preoccupied with other things right now, but I thought that you guys deserved a quick update.**

**I don't know why, but as I look at the previous chapters I feel like the quality of the chapters are reaaaally suffering. Do you have any tips for how I can improve this fic? I'd really appreciate it!**

**yourstruly247**


	5. Chapter 5

**Only bother read this if you reviewed without a reply link. :)**

**Idon'tplsnoPPL : PHAHAHAHAH I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY TOO! And I'm sure your ass isn't fat... well not as fat as Sakuragi believes Rukawa's ass is. ;)**

**Guest: Thank you for your extremely kind words. I feel so undeserving of such a committed reviewer (you've reviewed all the chapters)! It's people like you that motivate me to keep writing :)**

**ENJOY CHAPTER 5.**

* * *

Miyagi Ryota didn't call himself the number 1 point guard in the prefecture for nothing.

Although he was lacking in height, he made up for it with his lightning fast speed, superior dribbling skills, strong passes and his court-awareness. He knew of the abilities of his teammates; their strong suits and weaknesses as well as their characters in general made it easy for him to predict their movements on the court (which was why he barely passed to Hanamichi).

As the point guard of Shohoku, Ryota liked to think of himself as the author of their basketball story: he's the one who made the strategies to which his teammates would follow; it was safe to say that the pen was in his hand. He prided himself on the knowledge that the other players were able to play using their comfortable styles because _he _passed them the ball. He was the one who called the shots around here (sure it sounds arrogant, but as a point guard that's his job) and he knew what the consequences would be for each of the players he passed to.

Akagi Takenori – being the pillar of strength for the whole team, was the one who had the most influence on Shohoku's morale. He may not do anything rash when given the ball but the moment it lands in his hands the adrenaline rush would flow through _everyone _on the court: hope and excitement would surge through his teammates' veins as they rush around the court looking for an open spot where they can receive the ball; however anticipation and anxiety would push the opposing players forward and also give them an energy boost. Passing to the captain was like using a double-edged sword.

Hisashi Mitsui – the middle school MVP, was often the safer option. As many had witnessed him pass out from fatigue from a game against Ryonan previously, he was often very much underestimated. Being a shorter, less energetic basketball player among the starting five made him appear less intimidating to the opposition. But he was the most formidable player in Shohoku, his sharpshooting skills and ability to perform in stressful situations was what kept Shohoku at an advantage. Ryota often found himself passing to Mitsui as most of the time he was left unguarded by foolish players; by the time these idiots realised their mistake Mitsui would have already released the ball with his pin-point accuracy and set it on its course into the basket.

Sakuragi Hanamichi – Shohoku's class clown, was also another underestimated player. Yet his speed was the second fastest among the Shohoku players (Miyagi being the fastest) and his energy seemed to be never-ending. He was the most reliable for fast breaks and Ryota loved using that to their advantage. His big-headed attitude was often what calmed his teammates' nerves (although none of them would never admit it) and whenever the ball was in his hands it would result in the same consequences as giving the ball to their captain (except the redhead often ended up doing something embarrassing when in the limelight).

But Rukawa Kaede- the ace player of Shohoku, was different. Even Ryota couldn't deny that he was the most lethal player on their team. Whenever the ball was in his possession the opposition would be swept over with a sense of dread; his stone-cold expression made it impossible to figure out his game strategy. This was perhaps the _only _reason he had to not pass to the ace, not even Ryota knew what was going through his mind sometimes. But the point guard knew that the real key to unlocking Shohoku's true potential was in that player. Rukawa had proven this on so many occasions that it proved to many that the ace didn't _need _the other four players: his solo skills made up for all of them.

So imagine how startled Miyagi was to find that the cold-hearted one-man show Rukawa Kaede was finally sharing some of his glory with the rest of the Shohoku players. It's not that the freshman never passed previously, he was just surprised at the increasing frequency of his passing in the recent few days.

He didn't know what to make of it.

Ryota initially sensed that something was changing with their star player a couple weeks ago. When he first noticed the suddenly recurrent nose spasms he assumed that the kid was having a cold or some flu. But it was when Kaede passed the ball to the point guard instead of driving through the others and forcing the shot, did he realise that no physical illness could be blamed for Rukawa's behaviour on court. His thoughts were confirmed when he saw the freshman shoot a glance at Haruko, as if engaging her expression to his change in strategy.

Naturally, he _had _to investigate.

To say he was surprised to find a direct link between the whole spastic nose twitch and Haruko would be an understatement. She'd never been seen to cause such a violent reaction in the ace, what exactly happened between them a few weeks ago?

He distinctly remembered the captain asking his little sister to wake up the rookie a number of times whenever he was late to basketball training because he overslept. Before then Rukawa was as normal as he was capable of being; it was obvious that was the starting point of a change in the ace.

But what on earth could the nose twitch mean?

Discussing his with Mitsui-sempai gave him the answer he needed. As both players were gangsters, being observant was a survival technique: you had to know your enemy's weaknesses and exploit them. So the two of them discreetly watched the ace during one of the practise sessions and were fascinated by their results: for every time Rukawa stared at the little Akagi (he did that quite frequently even _if _he didn't realise it himself), he would abruptly look in any other direction with that freaky nose spasm.

It was almost as though that was his way of blushing.

Since the discovery that their cold-hearted ace may not be as asexual as everyone else thought, Miyagi couldn't contain his childish snickers whenever he saw any eye-contact between the two and of course Mitsui couldn't help but join in the playful banter.

After all, Rukawa's attempts at denial were _hilarious._

Jokes aside, some part of the point guard did worry about the ace getting distracted by the girl and changing his priorities but then he thought to himself, _'This is Rukawa Kaede we're talking about! He's too emotionally constipated to focus on anything other than basketball! She's probably just a little crush…' _

But after yesterday's breath-taking alley-oop with the captain, Ryota wasn't sure if he was right. No one had ever managed to make him change his style of play, none of his teammates or opponents. Yet Haruko could.

In a way, it was pretty cliché: the star player of Shohoku and their captain's cheerful sister. Two completely clashing personalities somehow find their way to each other. Well, opposites attract right?

'_Did Aya-chan have a conflicting personality to him?'_

'_Ohhh Aya-chan…'_

His game plan was forgotten for the rest of the school day.

* * *

"DASH!"

"1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2…"

It took Miyagi an hour of physics and another hour of suffering from the paper fan to finally cease his daydream of the curly haired team manager and recall his new idea. Sparing a surreptitious glance at the boy that was soon to be victim to his plan, Ryota inwardly chuckled at Rukawa's future misfortune (or rather _fortune)._

* * *

"Konnichiwa!"

A song-like greeting resonated throughout the gym and as the players turned to find its source, Ryota sprinted towards the unsuspecting freshman.

"Haruko!"

Said girl stepped back in fear, Ryota had never talked to her before so she naturally expected the worst.

"Hai? Miyagi-sempai?"

In the distance, a gorilla roared.

"Get your filthy ass away from my sister!"

Visibly rolling his eyes at the captain's overprotectiveness of his younger sibling, Ryota turned around to face the towering gorilla, cowering under his murderous gaze.

"Akagi-san! You know I only have eyes for Aya-chan!" Speaking of the love of his life, Ayako – upon hearing their captain rage, immediately joined the conversation in an attempt to placate him.

"As I was saying, since Haruko-san is so dedicated to our basketball team, don't you think she deserves to have some role in Shohoku's basketball squad too?" The point guard looked to their team manager with a silent plea for her help on the matter.

"He's right captain! Haruko-chan can be the _assistant _team manager!"

"Hmmm…" Takenori scrutinized his baby sister, who fidgeted under his gaze. "I don't know…"

"What do you say Haruko-chan?" Ayako wrapped an arm around her shoulder and shot a cheeky grin her way, "You want to keep me company… _right?_"

"Umm… well, you see…"

Why did that arm on Haruko's shoulder suddenly seem very dangerously positioned?

"…sure?"

"YAAAY!" both the second years erupted in cheers, "THAT'S GREAT! Did you hear that captain?"

"But I never said she coul–"

"Well I guess it's back to training for me eh?" In a blink of an eye, Miyagi escaped from the scene and appeared back on the court practising his shots with a smirking Ayako and two shocked Akagi's watching him.

'_How did he get there so fast...?'_

"Hai. Captain! Being the team manager, I think I should teach Haruko-chan the ropes of being the assistant team manager around here!" With that, the two girls also fled the scene.

Takenori heaved a sigh and trudged back onto court with new drills in mind for his teammates.

* * *

"As my assistant, all you have to do is follow everything I say." Ayako instructed in her good-natured tone towards the petrified junior, "That isn't so hard ne?"

"I suppose not, Ayako-san."

"RUKAWA-KUUUUUN!"

Seeing the newly appointed assistant wince from the intensity of their shrill voices, Ayako chuckled. "And your first job is to get rid of those banshees," she jerked her thumb towards the source of everyone's earache.

Hesitantly making her way towards the fan girls, Haruko went through all the ways that she could ask them to leave in her mind. Should she be polite to them? With the way they're throwing themselves at Shohoku's famed rookie, the word _civil _probably didn't exist in their vocabulary. Yet it was too out of her character to be rude, so why was she even doing this again? 'Get out' weren't words that were polite in anybody's dictionary, no matter how you said them.

She was already regretting accepting the assistant team manager position.

"Excuse me?"

Three girls – obviously displeased at the fact that someone interrupted their ogling, swivelled to meet the timid girl's gaze. For a moment, the younger Akagi was taken back by the harshness of their glares, but being the assistant manager meant that she had to step up her game now and couldn't let petty cheerleaders bring her down. She was about to politely ask them to leave when–

"Ohmygosh, it's that girl who hangs around the red-headed idiot!"

'_Sticks and stones may break my bones, but'_

"What do you want, you weirdo?"

'_Words will never hurt me.'_

"Leave."

The girls that were insulting her only a few moments ago were now looking at her with wide eyes and gaping mouths. Everyone in the court had paused their activities to stare at them in bewilderment. Haruko didn't know what she had done to get everyone's attention, but now all she wanted was to get out of the spotlight. Mortified, she stared at the floor, begging for it to swallow her whole.

Was she being too mean when she asked them to leave? That was what Ayako-san asked of her after all. Reflecting back to when she uttered that word, Haruko never realised that her voice held such a sharp edge to it… was it just her or did it sound pretty deep… kinda manly too-

"Rukawa-kun!"

The sound of his name brought Haruko out of her reverie, only to realise that the fan girls weren't staring at _her. _Their gaze was focused on something above her.

Out of curiosity, she turned around and inwardly blanched.

Rukawa Kaede's muscular form towered over them; beads of sweat rolled down the contours of his well-defined muscles. His chest moved up and down as he took in heavy breaths of air. But the most striking feature of his flawless face was his eyes; the cerulean irises glared at the three cowering fan girls with such intensity that they were torn between fleeing in fear and giggling with girlish glee.

For as intimidating as he looked, it only added to his sex appeal.

Before they could squeal in delight of receiving his attention first-hand, Rukawa's steel glare grew even colder. "I won't repeat myself."

Was he standing up for her? Her heart leapt in joy, much to her chagrin. Haruko thought she could get over him, but now that he was acting like _this, _she knew it wouldn't be easy.

The chances of her falling out of love for Kaede were close to nil.

The chances of him falling in love with her were even smaller.

So why was he here then? As much as she tried to, she couldn't quench the ever-growing hope in her chest. Even if his returning her feelings was against logic, her heart couldn't tell the difference. You can't choose the person you fall in love with.

"Ohohohohohoo!"

Her heart sank.

So _this _was why Rukawa asked them to leave.

"KYAAAAAAA!" the girls shrieked at the sudden appearance of the white-haired humpty dumpty they had for a coach.

Taking charge of the situation, Haruko decided to assert her authority, "Could you move out of the way to let Coach Anzai through please?"

To shocked to retort the girls numbly obeyed her request and moved aside to let him through.

"Oyaji!" the redhead sprinted towards their coach and jiggled his fats eagerly. "It's about time you got here!"

Noticing Haruko with the fan girls, Hanamichi approached them. "Haruko-san! Did you see my dunk?"

The girls – brought out of their stupor by his voice, broke out into fits of squeals. "Rukawa-kun looked at me!"

"But he talked to me!"

"No he didn't–"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Sakuragi yelled in frustration as he slammed the doors of the gym effectively shutting out the rabid fan girls in the process.

"Arigato, Sakuragi-kun." Haruko mumbled. It was embarrassing having other people successfully accomplish the tasks that she was assigned with.

"Anything for Haruko-san!" He bounded back on to the basketball court to continue their training, leaving Haruko alone with her thoughts once more.

Of course Rukawa wasn't there to protect her from them. Why would he do that for someone he barely knew? It was out of character for him. The only person she had actually seen him defend was Ryota on the day that Mitsui and his former gang attempted to beat him up. But that was because their brawl was serious and could have jeopardized Shohoku's chances of going to the championships.

There was no way that he'd ever step in for some petty (one-sided) argument between a couple of lovesick girls; especially if it was about a topic as unimportant to him as 'how cool he looked.'

She really was too naïve for her own good.

* * *

The point guard - who had seen the whole exchange take place - shot a sideways glance at Ayako and received a smirk in response. It was no consequence that their team manager gave Haruko that particular task as her first.

Although Miyagi wasn't one to meddle in other people's lives he knew that if his plan worked out, Shohoku's potential could double in strength. Haruko held the key to unlocking this power and he felt that it was his responsibility to push the key into the lock.

Almost everyone saw what happened between Haruko and the female students were shocked at Rukawa's intervention. When Anzai entered the gym, the people managed put two and two together and resumed their activities understanding that Rukawa was simply trying to help Coach Anzai actually get into the gym without being sent tumbling back outside by the girls.

But they were all assuming.

And they guessed wrong.

Nobody – other than Ryota himself, seemed to realise that Anzai only appeared _after _Rukawa confronted the fan girls. Those who did notice assumed that Rukawa saw Anzai coming from a distance and linked his actions back to their coach.

But to assume was to make an ass out of you and me.

And Miyagi Ryota was certainly _not_ an ass.

"WHY DID YOU PASS THE BALL TO MY FACE YOU ASSHOLE?!"

…

Anyway.

Miyagi noted that the time between Rukawa's intervention and Coach Anzai's appearance was too long to be related. So he could conclude that the two events were independent of each other, which brought him to his second conclusion: Rukawa protected Haruko.

His intention for doing so was unclear: for all he knew Kaede may have been distracted by their bantering and looked to resolve the source of his distraction. Or they could have been annoying him so much that he simply wanted them to _get lost. _But Rukawa was never one to lose focus in basketball and he'd always ignored the female species. So both those arguments were invalid.

Whatever his reason was, the fact still remained that Akagi Haruko was possibly the only person that could stir such a reaction from their ace player. Witnessing that encounter moments ago may not have proved that fact to many, but there were few who were as perceptive as Shohoku's point guard.

After all, Miyagi Ryota didn't call himself the number 1 point guard in the prefecture for nothing.

* * *

**So I was thinking I should try making the roles of the other players bigger. Ryota is my favourite character so I couldn't help but put him in this fic too. **

**Just in case many of you get confused, this fic has no actual time setting. It's not set before or after the championships.**

**I just want to say THANK YOU to all you wonderful reviewers! You have no idea how much I love hearing your opinions of this fic. It shows you care about this fic enough to tell me how to improve it or just to encourage me.**

**Please continue giving me suggestions on how I can improve Sleeping Beauty.**

**It's amazing how just a few words from you can brighten my day!**

**Thanks! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Idon'tplsnoPPL: Well, in that case I don't mind replying you here. :) I DO THAT TO MY FAVOURITE PHRASES TOO. Your idea may not be the most original, but I will definitely consider putting this in my next few chapters. **

**Guest: Like I said to aryaputra, I've read quite a lot of fics with that idea. But I will consider it anyway! I really was responding to your reply :) I'm glad you appreciate that I haven't rushed into the RuHaru, I'm trying to make it more realistic! :)**

**Here's the next chapter. ENJOY! :D**

* * *

Mitsui Hisashi was no idiot.

Sure he made some _stupid _decisions. He himself was not proud of his reputation as an _ex-_gang member; but he wasn't stupid_ enough _to keep going down that road.

And_ nobody_ was stupid enough to not see where Miyagi was going with this 'game plan' of his.

"Mitchy!"

Okay… maybe _somebody _was.

Although it was none of his business, as Shohoku's previous ace it was _his responsibility _to make sure that the current ace – no matter how much of a bastard he was, would meet his standards (he conveniently forgot that Rukawa didn't beat his standards, the bastard _shattered _them).

Usually he would trust their point guard's judgement on the court (take it as a form of respect from one ex-fighter to another) yet this time he found himself doubting the results of Miyagi's plan. Sure Haruko – being the new assistant manager, would have to spend more time with their ace; at the moment it seemed as though her presence caused the Rukawa to open his eyes and acknowledge the presence of his teammates more. But soon enough it'll take a downward turn.

They didn't need any of their players – let alone their ace, getting distracted by a woman.

Knowing Rukawa, the chances of this happening were as unlikely as chickens wearing underwear. But now that he thought of it, he didn't _know _Rukawa Kaede at all. Just when he thought the rookie was – quoting Sakuragi, _'a selfish bastard of a kitsune,'_ the kitsune proved them all wrong.

What other tricks did he have up his sleeve?

Now with Haruko thrown into the picture the results were even more unpredictable and Mitsui could feel the change in his bones. He was a man who stuck to a routine and avoided change like the plague. In fact, one of the reasons why he initially left the basketball squad was due to all the changes that were happening to Shohoku's basketball club while he was bed-ridden. And now, all of _this_ was out of his control.

Mitsui wasn't sure how he felt about Ryota's plans at all.

But this time, he wasn't going to run away.

* * *

"HANAGATAAA! HANAGATAA!"

Just like their previous game with Shoyo, the four-eyed Shoyo player was the source of hope for the rest of the team. Just like last time, Rukawa Kaede was playing as ruthlessly as he did before. It seemed as though all those moments where he passed the ball (and the glory with it) to his teammates were long forgotten; almost as though they never existed.

_Worried _was an understatement of how Haruko felt right now.

She was all out fretting: chewing her fingernails, shaking her knees; all her nervous habits that she thought she outgrew came back 20 minutes into the first half. The score was 27 – 20 to Shoyo. To make matters worse, Kenji had yet to take a shot himself instead of the mediocre passes he'd sustained up to this point. She knew that the moment the brunette scored, her big brother's team would be in trouble.

Sparing a glance at their main shooter, she was disappointed - more so than she thought she would be – to find that he was being his aloof self again. Her heart clenched at the thought that all the progress he made in teamwork was undoing itself and all she could do was sit and watch all her efforts go to waste.

"Come on Haruko-chan!" Focusing on Ayako, Haruko couldn't help but envy how much confidence their manager possessed. It was as if she _knew _that Shohoku would win… and here her assistant was thinking the exact opposite. "Don't just sit there and do nothing!"

What else could she do at a time like this?

"Give them your support! You'd be surprised how much it motivates them."

Then it hit her.

This was the first time she sat _with _the Shohoku team on the benches instead of watching from the spectator's seats. The younger Akagi was more than just a freshman in Shohoku watching with her fingers crossed on the side-lines.

She was part of the team, she contributed (if only a few days' worth) of her time into helping them train. How could she think that there was nothing she could do but watch their boys (yes, _their_) fight a losing battle?

How dare she think she couldn't salvage any progress Rukawa made?

"GANBATTE! SHOOOHOKUUU!"

Maybe when she looked back to this moment, Haruko would die of embarrassment from being the only one in the _entire _gym at that point who was cheering. But the noises in her head were too loud for her to realise that nobody else was making a sound; everyone was too focused on the match to cheer.

* * *

For a split second the unwavering strength and confidence in her tone managed to capture the attention of all the basketball players on the court. All the members of Shohoku's basketball team – both on and off the court - were inspired to have such a soft spoken girl unleash her faith and determination in her brother's team with such a fierce war cry.

_All _the members.

While it was obvious that Takenori and Hanamichi would be pumped up from her support, even the other players - who only knew of Haruko as the captain's little sister - felt a new rush of adrenaline rush through their veins. The sound of her voice caused the players to run a little faster, jump a little higher and call for the ball a little louder.

Haruko Akagi initiated the turning point in Shohoku and Shoyo's match.

* * *

Rukawa was a monster on court. The ace didn't bother with the pleasantries of passing; up until this match Kaede wasn't performing as well as he generally did (courtesy of Haruko, but he would never admit that to anyone let alone himself). Playing against his teammates during training was one thing; but now – in front of the competition – Rukawa couldn't put the passes he made to practice here.

"GANBATTE! SHOOOHOKUUU!"

A voice pierced through the silence.

In all honesty, Rukawa wouldn't have bothered to find its source if it wasn't for the reaction of all the players – regardless of the colours of their jerseys – whose eyes were drawn to her like a moth to a flame. When he finally relented into temptation, he chanced a glance at Shohoku's fearless supporter.

And there she was, in all her glory.

Hands clenched into trembling fists, chest moving erratically to the short quick puffs of breath, smooth-cut jaw set in stubborn determination, cerulean eyes flashed with defiance. Rukawa wasn't familiar with the body language the brunette possessed.

The Akagi Haruko who stood firmly among the rest of the team was certainly not the same Akagi Haruko who was too frightened to ask the girls to leave the other day.

At that point Rukawa couldn't help but see how _perfectly _she fitted into the team; whether it was because her big brother was captain or a benchwarmer, her eyes burned with the fiery passion that flamed through all of their hearts. The fighting passion she hid behind a timid façade was certainly a wonder.

Although – now that he really considered it – he shouldn't have been too surprised.

'…_you have no right to disrespect oni-chan's basketball team!'_

For a bystander to place so much faith in a team.

'_Everyone in the basketball team worked so hard to get where they are, how can you just ignore all of that?'_

Whereas he didn't even believe in them enough to make a pass.

'_Please give the others a chance too!'_

It made him feel so…

'…_you're one of our best players… we need you__'_

…pathetic.

The ball was released from his fingers; everyone watched as it sailed over Hanagata's outstretched hand – narrowly missing the tip middle finger – and followed an invisible rainbow towards the basket. Everyone was too mesmerized by the ball's perfect arch to think clearly.

Rukawa knew what he had to do.

"CAPTAIN!"

The gorilla immediately responded to the ace's call and leaped into the air to repeat their alley-oop during training, only to find someone else's calloused hands had plucked the ball from his grasp. A mop of red hair blurred his view as the player released an ear-piercing war cry. But nothing sounded more glorious than the thunderous echo of Sakuragi Hanamichi's slam dunk.

* * *

Sakuragi Hanamichi was bathing in a wave of cheers.

Shoyo's players looked at him with fear; Shohoku's players looked at him with respect. The redhead easily worked three times as hard as every other player. Being a newbie meant he had to nail the basics; being a starting player meant he had to be good enough to hold his own against the best in their districts.

It was tough for a boy like Hanamichi – one who often gave up under pressure and was once regarded as a lazy failure – to actually _try _and _work hard. _There were many points in his newfound hobby where he thought he would have been better off giving up and walking away.

But he stayed.

This was his reward.

* * *

Takenori walked away from the basket which _he_ was supposed to have slammed the ball through, gave the beaming redhead a rough pat on the back and approached their apathetic ace.

"Well done."

Even if Hanamichi had made an incredibly skilful basket; even if Hanamichi's fierce dunk was responsible for Shoyo's discomfort and Shohoku's hope; even if Hanamichi deserved that moment to shine more than any other basketball player in the gym that day.

There was one key factor to number 10's success that everyone seemed to appropriately forget:

It was the pass that made the shot.

* * *

"Well done."

Rukawa almost missed the words that escaped from his captain. The deep baritone of Takenori's voice combined with the unrelenting cheers from the audience made it almost impossible to hear what he said.

That didn't mean Rukawa didn't hear it.

Even if it was uttered quietly like a secret, pride swelled inside him. Only one person actually acknowledged him for his pass (that looked suspiciously like a shot) and that was enough. Rukawa never played to entertain the crowd; he didn't play for the glory.

However, the Shohoku members had grown on him. Their captain was some sort of father figure to him (seeing as his parents did not understand the passion their son held for basketball, nor did they bother to learn) and Rukawa respected the senior.

Rukawa couldn't remember a time when the gorilla actually commended him on his efforts before. Although he made more flashy shots, never did the captain personally praise him for doing so. But now that he gave someone else the opportunity to do what he'd always done, he was being rewarded with recognition.

He was so used to going solo now that all the fame that came with it didn't faze him anymore (not that it ever did in the first place). Any regular person would be amazed at Rukawa's skill, but that's because they're not basketballers. Although the mediocre players also gawked at his finesse, the elite players barely batted an eyelash at his stunts.

Including Akagi Takenori.

In a way, he reminded Kaede of his father: difficult to please and easy to disappoint. When their captain scolded him and Sakuragi, the stern expression on his face was so similar to his father's that often he'd accidentally imagine an older-looking Rukawa glaring back at him instead of the gorilla features.

Having his captain acknowledge him reminded him of his days as a child receiving praise from his father. Of course, that was before they discovered his desire to become a basketball player and found him to be a lost cause.

As he looked around at his teammates, he realised that somehow they became some kind of family to him – a family that supported his goals and shared his passion. They cared.

He didn't bother to mask the upward quirk of his lips.

He wasn't alone anymore.

* * *

Haruko was in euphoria.

She was pinching herself, blinking rapidly, doing _anything _to make sure that she wasn't dreaming about what she saw.

Rukawa Kaede _smiled. _

Even if it was barely there, it was a smile nonetheless. He looked like he was enjoying the game, not playing just to win. No longer taking shots for himself, Rukawa began passing more with less hesitation. For once his eyes weren't solely focused on the basket; they actually flitted around the court looking for any useful passes.

Often he would charge Shoyo's defences, causing the opponents to rush to mark him on instinct. This would leave one or two of his team members open. Taking advantage of the opponent's predictability, Rukawa would immediately pass the ball to one of the open members and let them land it in the basket.

But the astonishing thing was that he was actually involving his teammates. If she didn't know any better, it almost looked as though every time they clamped a hand on his shoulder – thanking him for the pass – his generally serious aura lightened even more.

Shohoku's ace was unknowingly raising the morale of his teammates and proving himself to be an even more lethal player than expected.

Haruko couldn't be more proud.

* * *

-BEEEEEEEEEEEEP-

"Time out…"

'_What appropriate timing.' _The younger Akagi mused. Now that Shohoku was picking up momentum and slowly getting into their zone, what better time for Shoyo to call a time out to break their adrenaline-fuelled performance.

"…Shohoku!"

'_What?'_

But her onii-chan's team was doing splendidly up to this point; they were all so fired up that not even Shoyo could break their constant succession of baskets.

So why would Shohoku call a time out _now?_

Unless…

"RUKAWA!"

* * *

He didn't know how it happened. One moment he was in the air catching a pass from Mitsui and the next, he was on the floor writhing in agony over his shattered left knee.

Rukawa winced as Miyagi helped him into a standing position and guided him towards the bench. He tried to ignore the rush of fire in his knee with every step he took; this was definitely the end of the match for him.

"Rukawa!" Ayako inspected his knee – prodding at it mercilessly - while her assistant rummaged through her bag for the first aid kit, "That doesn't look good."

"Ayako-san, I have a first aid kit here."

If he wasn't in so much pain, Rukawa would probably have taken note of Haruko's voice and found comfort in the gentle tone that returned to it. As much as he was impressed by the confidence she held a few minutes ago, he really didn't want another Ayako breathing down his neck.

"Good. Take him to the locker rooms and patch him up. Yasuda will help you bring him there. You know what to do right?"

The freshman nodded resolutely.

"Rukawa-kun, please come with me." The resolve in her eyes subdued any thoughts he had of refusing. Wordlessly, he allowed his arms to be hoisted onto Haruko's and Yasuda's shoulders as they brought him away from the match.

* * *

She was nervous.

It was obvious from the twitch of her fingers, the way she'd constantly tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear. She was trying to hide her anxiety behind a mask of grim determination as she produced a set of bandages from her kit.

In a way, it comforted him to know that despite this unfamiliar side of Haruko he'd been witnessing, the shy timid school girl was still lurking behind her façade. At least she hadn't changed enough for him to not recognise her anymore.

(But why did her change affect him in the first place?)

"Rukawa-kun?"

His eyes met hers, indicating that he was listening.

"Can I put these bandages on your knee?" Her voice cracked under his unwavering gaze.

Receiving a nod in response, she hastily got to work. Her nimble fingers wrapped around the thickness of his kneecap as she made sure that each roll around his leg was of equal distance from the previous.

While she bandaged his leg with her perfectionist ways, Rukawa's gaze shifted from her fingers to her face. Strands of chestnut brown hair hid her facial features from his view. He was so absorbed in what was hidden behind those curtains of hair that he didn't realise Haruko was done until she look up at him.

Then he was surrounded with cerulean.

'_She must be a witch,' _he thought for no other person had the power to enrapture him with merely the colour of their irises. He felt like he was drowning in an ocean, waves of sky blue crashing in on him. This was the second time he'd been captivated by her eyes and his nose was going _insane._

"I'm finished…" she whispered, softly.

"…yeah."

She sat down on the floor with him by his feet. Both of them basked in the comfort of silence for a couple of minutes. In actual fact, only Rukawa was truly enjoying the company silence brought. Haruko was inwardly freaking out; she could never really stand quietness. All silences for her were awkward. Yet if Rukawa was appreciative of it, then she had no choice but to tolerate it in his presence.

A few more minutes passed when Haruko couldn't stand it anymore.

"Rukawa-kun? Would you like to go back to –'

CRASH.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?"

Haruko rushed to the ace who suddenly face-planted the floor. Pulling him up by the shoulders, she realised that he was fast asleep and sighed helplessly. So all that time she spent fretting, he was _sleeping_?

A smile adorned her face as her eyes softened: some people never change.

Sitting beside him, Haruko gently laid his head on her lap and threaded her fingers through his ebony locks, massaging his scalp tenderly as he continued to succumb to slumber.

_He deserved a good rest._

* * *

The first thing Rukawa felt in his waking moments was the slender fingers running through his hair. He would have bolted right awake and push the offending appendages away from him, but they were…pleasant.

He felt pacified.

The next thing he realised was that his head wasn't on any solid surface. It felt as though he was sleeping on a pillow… a _really comfortable _pillow. This was odd because when he was tired he normally surrendered to gravity and slept wherever his body fell down. Although he may have fallen asleep in many random areas, _never _had he fallen onto a pillow.

Well, he should definitely pass out on pillows more often.

When he turned around to face his right, his nose brushed on something really soft. Was this an L-shaped pillow? Subconsciously, he shifted further to the right to find his whole face pressed lightly against the soft upright pillow. He didn't really like sleeping faced down because he felt like he was being suffocated.

But this was…nice.

Suddenly the pillow shifted.

"S-stop Ruk-kawa-kkun!"

His senses became alert. Haruko sounded far too close for comfort. Was she trying to wake him up again? In an attempt to drown out her voice, he pressed his face further against the pillow.

She giggled, "It t-tickles!'

He instantaneously stopped moving at the sound of her tinkling voice. This was the first time he heard her laugh; it sounded so pure and genuine that he could almost feel her joy expand in him right down to his toes. It made him feel lighter. Maybe this was why countless boys liked her; she was like a candle – lighting up the atmosphere wherever she was, illuminating the shadows of darkness and providing warmth for those around her.

He sighed through his nose and nuzzled his face into the pillow causing her to giggle more. That's when he realised it. He didn't feel the warmth of her laughter because of its purity; he could feel it because he was sleeping on her lap. And his face was buried into her stomach.

If he could retract his statement about Haruko being a candle, he would. It turned out he was quite mistaken.

However, despite his misguided thoughts Rukawa couldn't find it in himself to move away from her grasp. This was the nicest nap he'd had – when he wasn't on a bed – and she didn't seem to be taking advantage of him in this position like most fan girls would.

Or did she?

He was asleep for quite some time, so he would never really know what Haruko did to him before he woke up. Yet he had yet to open his eyes which meant she'd still be under the impression that he's asleep. And right now Haruko wasn't trying to smother him with kisses right now. So he guessed he could safely say that she wasn't abusing her authority as his pillow.

With that in mind, Rukawa once more let himself drift away into unconsciousness.

(Not noticing that in his waking moments, not once did he think about the basketball match).

* * *

**I promised you I'd update by the end of this week. So here's me sticking to it :)**

**I had wonderful suggestions which I'll keep in mind when I write the next chapter but I hope nobody's offended when I say I don't really like cliches and try to stay away from them.**

**This chapter had a huge RuHaru moment (which was quite cliche) in comparison to previous chapters so I understand if you think their relationship is building far too quickly in one chapter. **

**If you have any tips on how I can slow it down, please let me know!**

**My exams start in 3 weeks time so my next update will probably be in late June? It seems really far away, but who knows? If you guys leave some reviews, I might surprise you with an earlier update!**

**Thanks for your support! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Shohoku did not win the match that day; strangely enough they did not lose either.

After Kaede left the scene Shoyo and Shohoku were neck-to-neck on the score board. One player would land a basket but the glorious high from scoring would be washed away when the opposing team retaliated with a basket of their own. Even after overtime, the game was so intense that neither teams scored for 2 of the 5 minute extension.

When it looked like the game wasn't going to end soon. Fujima – noticing the worn out condition of his teammates – wanted to call it a day and wasn't too upset with the idea of admitting defeat. He knew if Rukawa hadn't left the court, Shoyo probably would not have stood as much of a chance as they did now.

After a much needed time out, both captains (and Coach Anzai) came to a conclusion that they would end the match and continue some other day. Although it was unsatisfying for many, it was the most sensible course of action.

It was just a practice match after all.

* * *

Rukawa's knee was gradually healing and in a few days' time he could play basketball without having to use sheer arm strength. But that wasn't the biggest problem.

Those stupid mid-term exams were out to get him again.

"Like last time, we'll have the study sessions at my place. How does tomorrow night sound?"

After a grumble of agreement from the failing four, training ensued.

"Rukawa."

Based on the grave tone inclined, he could only imagine that their captain did not have very positive things to discuss. Nevertheless, his uncaring façade was as flawless as usual as he anticipated the worst. "Captain."

"Don't push yourself." The gorilla's eyes glinted with an unfamiliar emotion. "I trust that you'll handle this situation better than Mitsui did."

For some reason, those words struck Rukawa at his very core and at that point his emotions were conflicted. A part of him was angry at the fact that their captain underestimated his capabilities, even if he was injured. But then…

'_I trust that you'll handle this situation better than Mitsui did.'_

'_I trust you'll handle this situation…'_

'_I trust you.'_

Rukawa always knew he was one of the key players in Shohoku's squad. Don't get him wrong: he wasn't arrogant for admitting the truth, he was just observant enough to notice it. But he always believed that their captain was the man who boosted the team's morale.

The fact that Takenori Akagi confessed his faith in Rukawa caused an unfamiliar emotion inside his chest to swell. Once again the idea of his captain being somewhat of a fatherly figure to him returned into his mind.

But if Takenori was like a father to him… who would be his 'mother'?

His eyes swept towards the younger Akagi and he inwardly blanched. Not only would that be some twisted form of incest, but the idea of seeing Haruko as a maternal figure was – for the lack of a better word – _repulsive. _

Suppressing a shudder, Rukawa went back to shooting hoops.

* * *

"Now that everyone's here, let's start the tutoring."

"I WANT HARUKO-SAN TO TEACH ME!"

-WHACK-

"BAKA! Stay AWAY from my little sister!"

As amusing as this scene was, Rukawa couldn't help but wonder if their parents were either deaf or just not bothered to see what the ruckus was about. Surely they could hear the commotion the do'ahou was causing from any room in the house?

"I'LL tutor you." The gorilla bellowed with a murderous glint in his beady eyes that promised nothing but a night of pain to follow.

Thank Kami he wasn't on the receiving end of it.

"NOOOOOO! Gori! Why would you–"

-THUNK-

* * *

Seeing as education had managed to screw over four of the five starting players, Takenori had no choice but to call for back up. His reinforcements of course only consisted of a curly-haired mess of spunk and the soft-hearted vice-captain.

Naturally Ayako would aid their point guard (although it wasn't the best idea, considering that she'd distract Ryota with her…_charms…_ but Takenori didn't care; Ryota wouldn't dare try anything funny on her and Ayako wasn't his little sister). It would only make sense for Kogure to help Mitsui as they were year-mates who shared a number of classes together.

So that left his imouto with…

"Kitsune! Why do you get to be with Haruko-san?"

"…do'ahou."

Before another pointless batter ensued, Takenori dragged Hanamichi to the dining room to start their revision. "Haruko, I suggest that you help Rukawa in the living room. That way Sakuragi won't be distracted."

"Hai, onii-chan."

* * *

"Ryota! PAY ATTENTION!"

Miyagi barely flinched at her tone. It was only when she revealed her paper fan from _thin air_ was he really afraid.

"But Aya-chan! I am!"

"I meant to my words, not my face!"

"But Aya-chan…"

When she lifted the hand wielding the fan high in the air he winced, tensing his lean muscles in preparation for the death blow.

Which never came.

"Ryota," his eyes shot open at the tender tone she used with his name, "please try to listen."

He was rarely blessed with Ayako's gentle persona so he couldn't help but wonder what he did to bring it out of her. Well, whatever it was, he couldn't deny her with her shimmering emerald eyes and puffy lips in a pout.

Heck he could never deny her.

"Hai, Aya-chan."

As Miyagi's focus reverted back to the book in his hands, a smirk graced the manager's lips, _'Too easy.'_

* * *

"Let me get this straight! The chemogoblin is inside our _body? _Isn't that a bad thing? Wouldn't that give us cancer?"

Kogure sighed. As much of a genius Mitsui was when it came to basketball, when it came to education he was as useless as Hanamichi was at basketball at the start of their school year. His brain was in his hands and feet.

"No Mitsui it's called _haemoglobin. _We have it in our blood to carry oxygen. It has nothing to do with chemotherapy or goblins."

He could see the gears turning in Mitsui's head and almost did a victory dance when he saw understanding dawn on the ex-gangster's face. "OHHHH!"

'_Thank Kami! He actually might pass–'_

"I don't get it."

'…_nevermind.'_

* * *

"Gori! I'm done with these questions!"

Takenori looked up from his own study notes with his eyebrows raised. "Already? That was fast!"

"That's because I'm a tensaiiiiii!" the red-head laughed loudly striking a random pose.

As he skimmed Hanamichi's paper his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Clenching his fingers into a fist, he swung it straight at the moron's head. Unsatisfied with the one bump that formed from his clobbering, Takenori struck his head a couple more times.

"BAKA…"

_-Thunk-_

"…when the question asks you…"

_-Thunk-_

"…to find _x_…"

_-Thunk-_

"…YOU DON'T CIRCLE THE X IN THE QUESTION AND WRITE 'HERE IT IS'!"

* * *

"…so you can find the velocity of a particle by differentiating the equation that gives its displacement, okay?"

She looked up from the textbook to find the rookie staring intensely at her with a blank look upon his face. He seemed to be in some kind of trance; perhaps he was sleeping with his eyes open?

"Rukawa-kun?"

"…"

Yup. Definitely sleeping with his eyes open.

Haruko took this time to appreciate his face. With his aristocratic features: piercing cobalt irises, high cheekbones, his strongly-cut jaw, all framed by messy ebony locks, it was obvious Kami spent a little more time on him.

Then she thought of herself and her own 'plain jane' features and a wistful sigh left her lips. There was no way a man gifted with the looks of a Greek God would ever take notice of an average looking girl like her.

He was way out of her league.

She left the comfort of the couch (they were in the living room after all) to quietly place the maths textbook on the table, so as not to wake the slumbering boy beside her. Chancing another glance at the freshman she was tutoring, she froze.

He was staring at her.

"R-rukawa-kun?"

Still no reply.

She slowly moved closer towards him expecting his eyes to narrow in suspicion of her motives. Yet his facial expression remained impassive. The only indicator that he wasn't sleeping (other than his eyes actually being _open_, but knowing Rukawa she couldn't put it past him to have mastered the art of sleeping with one's eyes open), was his eyes trailing after her every movement, as though they were glued to her form and _was there something on her face?_

Subtly lifting her hand to check and rid herself of any unwanted things on her face Haruko was shocked to find his eyes following her hand's movement. If possible, her self-confidence shrank into a pea-sized shell. Why would he bother to spare her a second glance? There was obviously something wrong with Rukawa today.

To test her theory, Haruko darted (albeit comically) to Rukawa's left, then his right, and – as expected – his eyes followed her. Determined to prove that the chances of him actually looking at her were close to nil, she continued to move to his left and right; like before his unwavering gaze never left her.

"Haruko? What are you doing?"

At the call of her name, she whipped around in an attempt to hide her previous actions from a very amused Mitsui. In her haste, she ended up tripping on her own feet and falling backwards onto the couch. She inwardly sighed in relief, pleased at her safe landing. At least she saved herself some embarrassment.

Although, judging from the way Mitsui was barely containing his laughter, Haruko wasn't too sure if that was the case after all.

"What's so funny Sempai?"

After having to sit through several minutes of his full-blown laughter, the senior finally answered her question with his eyebrows wiggling in a suggestive manner.

"Why don't you ask _Rukawa_?"

Unfortunately, in those moments where she was thankful for her good landing, she did not take into account _who _she landed on.

A musky scent wafted into her senses as she was enveloped in the warmth that could've only come from another person's body. She was startled to find two muscular legs on either side of her; her back cushioned by a toned chest. Thanks to Mitsui, she was now well aware of who she was sitting on. But she couldn't find it in herself to get off of him; he was far too comfortable.

Either way, Haruko knew there was no chance that she could get out of this situation with any of her dignity intact.

* * *

From the start of this whole 'tutoring session' Rukawa was bored. He may have been thankful that Haruko was his tutor (considering she was a lot kinder than the others, even Kogure) but that did little to brighten up his mood.

While he was sitting on one side of the couch 'paying attention' to what she was saying, his mind reverted back to yesterday's training session. Now that he thought about it, Haruko _did _share some similarities with his mother: they were both sensitive people, they poured their feelings into everything they did, they trusted people too quickly and they cared too much for others.

While Rukawa was a clone of his dad, his mother was his polar opposite. She wore her emotions on her sleeve and actually spoke in sentences. She was the personification of spring with the way she smiled and laughed and just _glowed _when she was happy. At one point, her radiance was never-ending. It was annoying.

But they took her for granted.

He and his father never learned to appreciate the only woman in their lives. Being antisocial, they didn't comprehend her need for human contact and didn't bother to either. They weren't the type of people that took pleasure in 'spending quality time' together. As a result, her sunny ambiance gradually dulled down and – like a malnourished flower – she withered.

His father wasn't too concerned about her change in behaviour, but Rukawa certainly was. He never really missed the person his mother used to be until he was left with a shell of her. When he realised how badly she was affected by being neglected by her own son and husband, it was too late.

Her personality was a reflection of his own.

And it was his fault.

Looking at the cheery girl in front of him, he felt as though Kami had blessed him with a second chance. Haruko was a younger version of the woman his mother once was; he'd be damned if he let her end up the same way his kaa-san did.

He hated repeating mistakes.

His mind flashbacked to the day she met him at the rooftop; she wore that flawless fake smile like an accessory. It took someone with as much practice as he did to notice it wasn't genuine. Something in his gut twisted painfully at the knowledge that he was the one to cause such an expression on her face that day.

He was not going to make the same mistake again.

"Haruko? What are you doing?"

If Mitsui's voice didn't break him out of his reverie, the girl that landed on his lap certainly did. He expected her to jump off him the moment their bodies touched, but surprisingly she didn't. In fact, she stayed nestled in between his legs.

Not that it _really _bothered him.

He was amazed at how snugly she fitted into his form: she was so small and fragile that when her back settled on his chest, the top of her head reached his nose. It was perfect for him to inhale the sweet fragrance of her hair…

Woah. That was a bit too much. Calm down Rukawa Kaede; she's just a girl.

"Why don't you ask Rukawa?"

She turned her head and cerulean clashed with cobalt.

For a moment, neither of them dared to move.

And then…

"Hn."

Haruko leaped off the freshman, mumbled something about getting drinks and bolted into the kitchen with a speed that rivalled their point guard's. All the while Mitsui guffawed as he watched Rukawa use both his hands to rub his nose vigorously.

"Nice move, ace!" he crooned before rolling around in laughter.

Said ace stood up – tired of being the laughing stock – and headed to the bathroom.

* * *

"Mitsui! You're not finished with your studying yet!" Kogure entered the living room to find the man face-planting the floor, chuckling to himself. Mitsui lifted his face from his make-out session with the wooden tiles to acknowledge his presence.

"Don't worry Kogure! I already know about electrons being negatively charged, protons being positively charged and their electrostatic forces of attraction."

The vice-captain smiled at his year-mate encouragingly. Perhaps he was too harsh on Mitsui and underestimated his brain capacity. It turned out that he wasn't as academically challenged as he assumed–

Mitsui grinned, "They're the things that go around the sun, right?"

…nevermind.

* * *

After splashing cold water on his face multiple times to bring him back into reality, Rukawa walked back into the living room his face not revealing the emotional turmoil inside him. Besides, why should he be confused? As far as he was concerned, all he cared about was basketball: becoming the best and going to the States where the big boys were at.

But as he watched the dainty girl walk around with a tray of glasses and a sugary smile, it was obvious that his nose disagreed with him. There was something about this girl; something that made him think that there could be more to life than he thought.

Something that made him want to give life a second chance.

Basketball was more than a hobby or a drug. It shielded him from his broken family. The sport distracted him from the failure that was his life; he wanted to win not for the fame, but so that he could believe that – like everyone else – he too had something that he could do.

He made so many mistakes in the past. Playing basketball seemed to be the only thing that he did right.

When he saw how much this girl – this _stranger _– wanted to be a part of his dull life, he was annoyed at first. She didn't understand him, so how could she be any different to those stupid cheerleaders with their pom-poms? But then she actually wanted to understand him; she wanted to know the reason why his barriers were so hard to break; she stayed despite his efforts to push her away.

Did she know how much she distracted him from his ambitions?

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice when Haruko put the tray down and approached him, pools of cerulean sparkling with an emotion foreign to him.

"Shall we get back to studying, Rukawa-kun?"

His walls were breaking.

But as he looked at his teammates: Ayako talking to a blushing Ryota; Kogure crying dramatically at Mitsui's stupidity; Takenori relentlessly abusing Hanamichi with a wrapped up newspaper; as he observed how they all functioned like a family,

He realised that he didn't really mind.

* * *

**HEY THERE! I wasn't going to update until July but I just couldn't do this to you guys!**

**By the way, I know this chapter wasn't really good (with Rukawa being OOC) but please bear in mind that from tomorrow to friday (20th to 24th), I have 10 exams to stress about. **

**Soo, assuming that you liked this chapter... what was YOUR favourite part?**

**PEACE OUT**


	8. Chapter 8

**Nia: hey! I was hoping that I didn't make Rukawa's family life too depressing. I guess you'll be pleased to know that this chapter has A LOT of RuHaru interaction =)**

**MiKaZuKi239: and you shall have MORE! :D**

**Guest (5/20/13): Thanks! I'll try to update ASAP, but please understand that I have exams I need to prepare for too!**

**Guest (5/19/13): Thanks a lot for pointing out that whole 'onee-chan' and 'oni-chan' mix up! Don't feel bad either, I'm not upset at you, I promise! =)**

* * *

While the tutoring session yielded results for the two older troublemakers, the freshmen left their captain's house with as much knowledge as when they initially entered.

They didn't learn a single thing.

Fortunately not all hope was lost. Sakuragi devised an ingenious scheme that he fully intended to put into play during the exams. Of course he did not tell the other players about it as he was fully aware that their reactions would be less than pleasant.

Nonetheless it was a full proof plan.

The redhead grinned to himself maniacally as he stalked his feeble classmates, pulling a particularly frail-looking student away from the doorway. The involuntary victim squeaked in surprise, nervously pushing his thick-rimmed glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"Ohayo Narimasa!" He wrapped his arm around the cowering student - completely ignoring the poor victim's distress - in what he assumed was a friendly manner. The student flinched under his overpowering aura; he was barely able to muster a reply and keep himself from urinating in his pants at the same time.

"O-o…ha–"

"So listen," Hanamichi scratched the back of his head as he gave his preposition, "I _really _need to pass these exams so I can play in the winter championships–"

"I understand Sakuragi-san!" The boy – who realised he _wasn't _about to be beaten within an inch of his life – was eager to fulfil the basketball player's request.

Sakuragi could feel his patience running thin when he was abruptly interrupted midsentence, but the offender's next words completely abolished his uprising anger.

"I'll find out the questions on all the papers and give them to you! Please don't hurt me!"

Sakuragi's eyebrows rose to his hairline. Originally he planned to ask the boy to simply allow him copy off of his paper, but this was a far better plan! "Thanks Narimasa!" With a cheeky grin, the redhead dashed back into the classroom.

A few moments later, the boy's face twisted into horror as he raced after Hanamichi.

"Sakuragi-san! My name's not Narimasa!"

* * *

Rukawa was in a pickle.

Although he could easily use his intimidating personality to subtly threaten people into helping him pass the exams like the do'ahou, that would mean he'd have to physically approach these strangers and speak to them.

He was not a people person and he wasn't planning on becoming one anytime soon.

So his problem stayed unresolved for several days.

Of course he could have spent these days actually studying for the exams but he decided against the notion; basketball was much more fun than studying. However, as he played at the outdoor basketball court, he realised that if he didn't get the required grades there would be no more competitive basketball for a while for him.

And if he couldn't get into inter-high because of something as silly to him as his academic achievements, any potential basketball career he could have in the future would burst into flames.

Sighing at his misfortune, he slammed the ball roughly into the basket in a dunk.

After having his fill of basketball for the day, the ace made his way to the benches at the side of the outdoor court, intent on taking a brief nap before returning to his house (he could never call that place his _home_) when his peripherals caught sight of a girl sitting beside his bag.

When he'd narrowed the distance between him and the person enough to realise it was his captain's sister, Rukawa wasn't sure if it was irritation he was feeling or something else entirely.

"Hi Rukawa-kun." She handed him a small towel, avoiding his unwavering gaze.

"Hn." Making sure that their fingers didn't brush, he took the towel and proceeded to wipe of all remnants of physical effort from his face.

"How's the preparation for exams coming along?"

He looked at her suspiciously, letting silence be his answer to her unusual question. He wasn't one for small talk (or talking at all) and she knew that very well; so why did she bother to approach him at the most inappropriate time (he was about to sleep _dammit!_) and ask such a nonsensical question?

When she realised that he wasn't going to answer her any time soon, she looked around frantically searching for an escape route and was thankful to have spotted Sakuragi's friends loitering on the opposite street.

"Ahh!" she exclaimed happily, but then masked her happiness to wear an expression of melancholy, "As much as I'd like to stay here and chat with you for longer. I see my friends waiting for me."

He followed her eyes to see a group of four shifty-eyed freshmen; the four troublemakers that normally hang around the do'ahou. What was she doing hanging around _them?_

Before he could interrogate her on her odd behaviour, she hightailed out of the basketball court in their direction saying nothing else except a cheery "Good luck for the exams!"

Needless to say he was perplexed for the rest of the day.

* * *

"Time is up. Put your pens down and hand in your papers!"

In an orderly fashion, the students sluggishly emerged from their chairs and ambled towards their teacher's desks, their exam papers clutched firmly in their hands. The invigilator assigned was a teacher in one of the higher year groups to prevent the freshmen's actual teachers from giving them the answers during the exam.

He gave the stack of exam papers a once over, ticking off the names of the people who submitted their papers in before dismissing the entire class, save for two students.

"Akagi Haruko and Rukawa Kaede come to my office immediately."

As the pair walked to the higher floors to meet their invigilator, Rukawa spared a glance at the petite girl beside him. He could understand why he was being sent to the office; it was probably to remind him that his participation in the winter tournament relied on the outcome of these exams. But why was the goody-two-shoes going too?

Judging by the way she refused to keep eye contact with him today and based on her awkward behaviour the other day he'd be a fool not to realise that she was hiding something. It was obvious that it had something to do with him as well.

Whatever it was, he'd find out very soon.

* * *

When they entered the room the teacher looked at both of them knowingly, causing Haruko to fidget under his stare and Rukawa to stare back with indifference. After deciding that he'd made both the students feel uncomfortable enough (well, actually just one of them) he waited to see which one of the two would crack first.

After five minutes of deafening silence, he spoke.

"As I was checking the papers, it has come to my attention that Rukawa-san has handed in not one," an index finger lifted at the number before the middle finger was raised as well, "but two papers."

Rukawa's eyebrows were raised as he pondered the man's words; he didn't bother to cheat: it took to much effort and followed with too many consequences. His eyes shifted surreptitiously towards the girl beside him: her face showed no sign of surprise; it was almost as though this was what she expected. Her eyes remained glued to the teacher's form as if she was waiting for the rest of his speech.

Apparently the older man was also waiting to provoke a reaction from her himself.

Haruko's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "So Takemura-sensei, why am I here?"

The sensei sighed before returning a sickly-sweet smile to the clueless girl, "That's because you haven't handed in your exam script," his smile widened as an emotion akin to shock registered on her face, "at least, you didn't hand in your script with _your _name on it."

Rukawa's eyes widened in revelation. Was this her plan? What was Haruko hoping to accomplish by doing this?

The younger Akagi stood up immediately, her cheeks tainted with red as she walked up to the teacher and whispered words he couldn't distinguish from his location into the older man's ear. Whatever she said caused the man's eyebrows to shoot up to his hairline and look at the girl in alarm.

Switching his gaze back to Rukawa, he wasn't sure if the timid way in which she picked at her nails and kept her focus glued to the floor was an act or genuine.

But the man – who believed it was the latter – released a hearty laugh and gave her a pen to write her name on the paper that was hers. He threw a shrewd grin at Rukawa and continued to ramble on about 'young love.' What the man didn't notice (but was certainly spotted by Rukawa) was that Haruko didn't write her name on her own paper.

She wrote it on his.

"Arigato Takemura-sensei!" Haruko bowed respectfully before flashing a sheepish grin, "Gomennasai about the whole mix up…"

It seemed as though the man completely changed personality from the moment Haruko whispered in his ear. Instead of being the brooding suspicious teacher he was now being far too friendly, "It's alright!" Wiggling his eyebrows at the ace he chuckled heartily, "Just don't think about him _too much!_"

* * *

Haruko breathed a sigh of relief as they left the office; she didn't expect the teacher to fall for her 'lovesick' act. Considering that the ace did have a fan club (one which he wasn't very fond of at all) she supposed that it would have made sense.

She was about to walk away when Rukawa's menacing figure blocked her escape route, the angry gleam in his eyes showed that he was not impressed with her performance. "Rooftop. Now." He seethed with so much wrath that Haruko couldn't repress her flinch at his harsh tone. Hanging her head in submission, she obediently trailed after the brooding boy in front of her.

* * *

The door to the rooftop groaned as it was swung shut. Haruko was vaguely reminded of their previous encounter on the rooftop and she grimaced at the outcome of that day. It seemed that every rooftop meeting they'll have would be one where she ended up getting hurt either physically or emotionally.

Rukawa turned around and met her cerulean pools with an icy glare. She'd only see him glower at people who really irked him: Sendoh, Sakuragi, along with Mitsui and Miyagi recently. Never had Haruko been on the receiving end of such a spiteful look from _anybody_, let alone the boy who had her heart.

She was frightened.

Slowly moving towards her in the same manner a predator would stalk its prey, he pretended not to notice her shakily stepping backwards in a feeble attempt to maintain their distance.

"Why?" He growled. It was more of a statement then a question and left no room for anything but the truth.

"Y-you…" Haruko inwardly scolded herself for sounding as weak as she felt. Her reason for doing what she did was not selfish; she firmly believed that what she was doing benefitted the entire team. Steeling her resolve, she straightened her posture and spoke calmly, "You have to pass these exams. Shohoku _needs _you."

In the blink of an eye she was pinned against a wall by her shoulders. While his face maintained its impassive expression, his eyes gleamed with fury. As inappropriate as it was, Haruko was secretly mesmerized: their ice cube of a player never showed emotion and he certainly never let anybody rile him up enough to break through his apathetic exterior.

Yet here he was doing both.

"So you decided to sacrifice your own exam results?" His tone was calm, but she could hear the underlying anger.

She was one of the biggest idiots he'd ever met. Now he wasn't sure whether the do'ahou caught his stupidity from her or the other way round. Just the thought of her foolishness was causing his wrath to reach new heights.

Haruko winced at how his hands tightened on her shoulders; she was running out of methods to calm his rising temper and his grip on her was getting painful. Gently, her hands reached up to hold his on her shoulders in a placating manner; her thumbs moving in circles around the back of his hands.

The contact caused him to rip his hands from her hold as though her touch burned him.

"I'm willing to risk my grades if it's enough to get you into the tournament."

His eyes narrowed sharply at her bold statement. "I don't need your pity."

"You don't have it," was her instant reply. The cowering girl completely vanished and was replaced by a head-strong woman. "If I receive good results, my parents and my brother will be happy. They'll take me out for dinner to celebrate. But afterwards they will put my achievement to the back of their minds and focus on their own lives."

She lifted her gaze from the cement floor to meet his own in a battle of wills. "But if you get good grades you'll be allowed to participate in the winter tournament. Everyone in Shohoku – players and spectators – will be delighted to know their ace player will be with them. They'll have faith and fighting spirit. The players will believe that they have a chance to win with you around and who knows? We might win because of your presence."

Closing her eyes, the corners of her lips lifted into a tired smile. "I'd rather fail and suffer the consequences, knowing you're there to lead us to victory, than pass while kicking myself for being so selfish."

Rukawa's rage cooled at her sincere words; the fury in his eyes melted into an unfamiliar emotion. He was at a loss for words and not for the first time, he was thankful that he barely spoke on a daily basis so he wouldn't be obliged to answer.

After a moment's pause he sighed and placed his forearms on either side of her head, caging her in. Rukawa hated physical closeness (or any type of closeness for that matter), but there was something about Akagi Haruko that – as much as he tried to deny it – lured him in. There was something about Akagi Haruko that called out to him.

Her compassion.

This girl was the most selfless person he'd ever met. Always giving, never taking. She was willing to sacrifice her own happiness for others, for _him_. She hadn't asked for anything in return for her kindness, simply taking pleasure in bestowing joy in other people's lives. His sole purpose in life was basketball; she knew this but decided to help him anyway completely disregarding the fact that _she had nothing to gain from caring for him._

Resting his head on the wall beside hers, he whispered, "Why?"

Shivering from his breath fanning across her left ear, she replied confidently, "Because I care."

That caused a fluttery feeling to erupt in his stomach; his heart suddenly felt very light. He hadn't realised how good it felt to be cared for until those words came out of her mouth. His mother was the last person who was truly concerned for his wellbeing, but that was before she turned into an empty shell of the only woman he'd ever had in his life.

Now that Haruko – a replica of his kaa-san – cared for him, he felt as though that void inside which was deprived of tenderness would be filled.

-RIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG-

The bell sounded, signalling the end of their lunch-break and breaking the ace out of his reverie. Only then did he realise the proximity between him and his captain's sister. With lightning reflexes he moved away from her, shoved his hands into his pockets and left her alone on the rooftop.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the two freshmen, their movement from the teacher's office to the rooftop was noticed by their seniors since the office was on the same floor as their classrooms.

"Aya-chan! Do you think it's a good idea to let Haruko be with Rukawa alone up there?"

The team manager smirked. "Don't worry about it. She'll be fine!"

"How are you so sure?"

"Are you questioning me, Migayi Ryota?" Her paper fan appeared in her hand and Ryota swore he could hear thunder in the background.

"I would never Aya-chan!"

"Good! Let's go!" With that, her fan disappeared into her bag and they continued walking towards the cafeteria. She herself would have been worried about the two of them being alone together, if not for that day when she ran into them in the locker room.

* * *

_Flashback:_

_With one arm carrying several bottles of water, Ayako used her other hand to push the door open._

"_Hey–"_

_The sight she saw rendered her speechless._

_Haruko was sitting down on the floor with her back leaning against the wall. Her eyes were closed and a smile lingered on her features; it looked like she was sleeping peacefully. But that wasn't what shocked the team manager._

_For there – with his head nestled comfortably on her lap – was Rukawa Kaede. His eyes were trained on her face, as though he was imprinting the image of her sleeping in his mind. Even when Ayako opened the door, his eyes did not stray once to her direction._

_It almost seemed like he was bewitched by Haruko. _

_This was the first time she witnessed an almost romantic side to their ice block of a player. No frown was present on his face; in fact it looked as though his gaze on Haruko was softened. Did he only act this way towards her when nobody (including Haruko herself) was paying attention? Ryota hinted at something the day he pleaded with Ayako to make Haruko the assistant team manager; was this it? _

_Tearing her gaze away from their ace's awe-struck face, she noticed her assistant's fingers weaved into his obsidian locks as she massaged his scalp. Even in slumber her fingers continued their soothing ministrations. _

_Ayako smiled fondly. Haruko's presence – whether she was conscious or not – always soothed others. Judging by Rukawa's reaction to her, she could only assume that he was human enough to be entranced by this girl's gentle nature. It was nice to know that their ace was capable of feeling emotions other than annoyance and competitiveness, even if it was when nobody else was around to witness it._

_Deciding that she had intruded on their moment for too long. Their curly-haired sempai quietly placed the bottles on the floor beside the door before exiting without being noticed. She closed the door silently, closing the pair off from the outside world._

* * *

'No Ryota,' she mused to herself as her friend raved on about how Haruko could be in danger, 'the only person who's really in danger here is Rukawa.'

* * *

**YUCK YUCK YUCK. I give everyone permission to flame me for this load of crap. You guys deserve so much better than this! I'm just feeling really out of it, sorry! Feel free to criticize, PLEASE.**

**Thanks for reading this baloney anyways. :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Miaka: hahaha thanks! I love your review very MUSH - see what i did there? ...yeah i'll stop now. :P **

**Guest: I'll try to put Rukawa's POV of the flashback in at some point, but I'm not making any promises! =)**

**ulq4schiffer: thank you! Is this considered a fast update? :)**

**Just to clarify things, the flashback in the previous chapter was during the game between Shohoku and Shoyo when Rukawa injured his knee. **

* * *

Haruko didn't know what to think.

One minute Rukawa was pushing her away the next he's cornering her on rooftop walls. Although she appreciated this new attention she was receiving from the heartthrob (well, just the nice parts), Haruko was slightly worried. As much as it hurt to admit it, she knew the normal Rukawa would never look twice in her direction. But during the past few training sessions, she'd noticed – or Ayako would point out to her if she didn't – his lingering gazes on her.

Was something wrong with him?

Did it have something to do with her?

She scoffed at the thought, there was no way a measly assistant team manager could have any kind of effect on the number 1 rookie in the prefecture. Besides, his attitude to other people was also changing. The taunts he threw Sakuragi's way never stopped; some things never changed. However he was slowly breaking out of his famous style of play: going solo. It's not that he never took the basket for himself; he just passed more frequently and was more willing to cooperate than before.

As she continued to watch him play a practice match with his teammates she noticed his eyes darting around the court, looking for people who were open for a pass instead of calculating his route to the basket and following it, forcing his way through like he used to. Just when Haruko thought there was no way for him to evolve into a better basketballer, he proved her wrong.

She couldn't suppress the ever-growing smile on her face.

* * *

The whistle blew; its shrill noise reverberated off the gym's walls, pulling Haruko out of her thoughts. Like the thunder that follows lightning, her brother's voice roared subsequently.

"BREAK! 5 MINUTES!"

"HAI!" they chimed in sync.

The team manager and her assistant took this is their cue to hand out the water bottles they purchased for their players. With a nervous smile on her face Haruko approached Rukawa who - instead of resting with his teammates – used the break as an opportunity to practice his shooting. He may have learned to use his teammates more efficiently but he still couldn't deny himself the glorious high from scoring a basket, even if it wasn't in a match.

After making a successful shot and retrieving the ball she spoke, "Rukawa-kun?"

The ace turned around at a torturously slow pace and advanced towards the girl. Once they were a foot apart, he raised a delicately arched eyebrow to show her that she had his attention.

Haruko was so unused to having her crush's undivided attention that she got nervous under his glare. And what did Haruko do when her nerves get the better of her? Ramble.

"You were amazing out there!" He held in a chuckle at her awestruck expression, "I mean… you're always amazing. But now you're even better…" his ears were barely registering her words when his eyes were automatically memorising every feature of her face: from her button nose adorned with several freckles (_five_… he counted) to her glistening cerulean irises.

All of a sudden, her expression changed.

Her wide eyes became downcast and her petal lips curved downwards with a slight tremble. Fear marred her features and Rukawa was confused as to what caused it.

Was his staring too obvious?

Did he make her uncomfortable?

His heartbeat involuntarily quickened at the thought; he didn't know why but the idea of Haruko harbouring fear or any other negative emotions towards him did not sit very well with the freshman at all.

So he tried to remedy the situation.

"…I'm sorry I was out of line again!" she was apologising profusely, "I know I don't have a right to talk about your basketball techniques–"

"Haruko."

She stopped mid-way and looked at him anxiously. Almost immediately his gaze softened; how badly did he treat her in the past to make her too uncomfortable to speak freely around him? Had he done the same thing to his kaa-san as well?

He lifted his hands to the water bottle she was holding in a fierce grip. One calloused hand wrapped around her clenched hand on the bottle while the other gently pried the bottle from her vice grip, his smouldering gaze never breaking eye contact.

Taking a swig, he closed his eyes and savoured the delicious taste of water as he drank his fill. All the while he didn't notice Haruko's transfixed gaze on one of the free droplets that trickled from the side of his mouth down to his chin, tauntingly rolling down his neck and down further –

She squeezed her eyes shut before her mind could wander.

When she heard him clear his throat, her eyes snapped back open with a rosy tint on her cheeks.

"…thanks." He mumbled as the ace handed her the bottle and went back to focus on his shooting.

* * *

"Haruko-chaaaaaan!"

The assistant manager shivered in anticipation of her _boss_'s next words. Recently Ayako had been not-so-subtly teasing her about their ace. Initially she ignored it but it was obvious that Ayako would not leave her alone (in fact, she decided to crank it up a notch) until she got what she wanted.

But Haruko didn't know what that was.

"Hai?"

A sly grin worked its way onto the spunky girl's face as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Did Rukawa get his water?"

Ayako knew she'd pressed the right buttons when Haruko's cheeks flushed bright pink. She released an evil cackle at her success and continued to tease her further. When her assistant's complexion closely resembled a tomato, she was satisfied and decided to leave her alone.

Looking around for another source of entertainment, Ayako wasn't really that surprised when she found Rukawa _subtly _glancing at her assistant from his peripherals. She guessed that Haruko's face was still glowing red because he suddenly turned his full attention to the girl as he jogged to the other side of the court.

However, she _was _surprised when his stare was directed at her and sharpened into a glare. Her eyes darted back to Haruko and lo and behold! The poor girl's face was pretty much on fire from how hard she was blushing! Could it be that Rukawa saw her tease Haruko?

'_Touchy, touchy!'_

Rukawa continued to blatantly stare at their captain's little sister. Ayako used the back of her hand to stifle her laughter when she saw Mitsui and Ryota snickering behind him. Mitsui crept up on the unsuspecting ace and abruptly yelled out "HARUKO-CHAN!" right by his ear.

Rukawa flinched, vigorously rubbed his nose and tried to walk away from the source of the noise as quickly as his feet could carry him; he hated being the centre of attention when it wasn't basketball related. Thankfully everyone else's attention was diverted so he got away safely.

Hanamichi – who had been oddly quiet throughout all of this – jumped into the spotlight, proclaiming words of his undying love and making odd poses while doing so.

Takenori's overprotective nature switched on at his imouto's name and on impulse he charged towards the star-struck redhead, delivering a swift punch atop his head.

Miyagi and Mitsui were both howling in laughter at the side-lines, rewarding each other with a high five at the drama they caused.

Ayako smiled fondly at Haruko; she looked as though she was about to pass out from embarrassment at any minute. Her presence always had an effect on Shohoku. Back then she was the only person – not directly associated with the basketball team – who would take the time and effort to watch all their training. Although at that time her main reason was to see the love of her life in action. Yet even then she loved Shohoku's basketball players as much as her brother did.

But as an assistant manager, her passion for her players grew to new heights. Ayako couldn't help but be proud at the dedication and faith her assistant had in all of them. Her moral support in their game against Shoyo lifted their heavy hearts; now even the mention of her name brought on an amiable atmosphere.

Akagi Haruko was the embodiment of Shohoku's team spirit.

* * *

"YES! THE TENSAI PASSED!" Hanamichi unleashed a triumphant cheer; his war cry thundered across the entire hallway and unintentionally struck fear into the hearts of his school mates. With a hearty laugh he wrapped each of his arms around Yohei and Takamiya in a headlock.

The surrounding classmates gasped at the troublemaker's declaration. After taking a few moments to register the fact that the redhead was actually able to pass the end of term exams and not repeat the year, they all sighed as they realised that they'd _still _be with him next year.

"HAH!" Hanamichi stood on his table, did a _funky-assed _dance, and then dramatically pointed both his index fingers at each of his classmates. "SEE YOU GUYS NEXT TERM! YOU'RE NOT GETTING RID OF ME YET!"

Oh yes, they were all in for one _hell _of a term next year.

* * *

Mitsui blinked at the number circled on the top of his paper.

Then he blinked again.

"YATTA! I DID IT!" The sharpshooter had never studied so hard for exams in his life!

When he was in what he liked to call his _darker days, _studying was such a chore that it wasn't even at the bottom of his list of things to do.

It wasn't_ on_ his list.

Heck, back then he was such a slacker that his list pretty much consisted of beating people up, making death threats, finding people to target and _thinking up _more death threats.

But now he found his direction in life again. This time he wasn't going to make any stops until he got to the end of the road. He'd do whatever it took to play basketball, even if he wasn't at his prime anymore. Mitsui realised all the time he wasted making wrong decisions and how basketball, how _Shohoku _pulled him out of the darkness.

He owed it to their basketball team.

He owed it to Coach Anzai.

Sure, he still physically hated studying with a passion, but he had to repay his debt to his team. He'd be no use to them if he couldn't make it into the winter tournament. Passing these exams was his biggest obstacle, but now that he'd overcome it he was one step closer to paying back his debt.

He was one step closer to victory.

* * *

When Ryota was handed his paper, his immediately turned it face down onto the table. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths through his nose in an attempt to calm his jittery nerves.

"Miyagi! What did you get?" The point guard opened his eyes to find his teammate's pleasant face in front of him. Uncertainly, his eyes lowered to the upturned exam paper on his desk.

"I'm not sure Yasu…" _'And I don't think I want to know either.'_ Although Yasuda wasn't one of the starting players on their basketball team, Miyagi developed a strong bond with the substitute due to his caring nature and warm personality (the fact that they were both the shortest members on the team had _nothing _to do with it).

Yasuda looked at his friend sympathetically. He knew that Ryota developed a fear of rejection due to his record of heart-breaking moments with girls (although it was nothing compared to Sakuragi's). "If you want… I could look at it for you?"

His pity for the point guard increased tenfold when he noticed the shaky grip the he had on his paper. Focusing on the number circled in red ink, Yasuda contemplated how he should react.

"D-did I pass?"

The benchwarmer sighed and gave him back the paper faced downwards. Ryota's shoulders sagged in defeat, _'Well… have fun without me at the tournament…'_

"71 percent."

His eyes snapped upwards to see Yasuda's wide grin. Stunned he turned the paper over numbly only to come face-to-face with his total percentage beaming back at him.

Right there, circled and underline in bright crimson was the number _seventy-one._

While Yasuda celebrated his friend's good fortune, Ryota sat there in a daze for the rest of the school day.

* * *

Haruko sighed wistfully. She was scared out of her wits. Although she'd only written her name on _one _of Rukawa's papers, it was his maths paper. As mathematics was a core subject, she must pass the exam or else she'd have to repeat the entire term.

She still didn't regret it though.

Maybe she could ask the teacher to retake the exam? But then there could be a possibility that the teacher would recognise her handwriting from Rukawa's paper and they'd both get in trouble…

"Akagi Haruko."

She sat up as straight and stiff as a board, refusing to look at her teacher's face; she didn't want to see her sensei's disappointed expression when he handed her the maths paper. Her classmates looked at her in curiosity, waiting to see her reaction to her exam grade so they could mentally decide whether she did well or not.

But Haruko denied them the satisfaction of doing so. She waited patiently until everyone else realised that she wasn't going to look at her grades in front of them and were distracted by their own results.

Lifting the hand that covered the number, she gasped out loud. Sure she herself would have done better (she wasn't cocky, it's just that she worked a lot harder and actually stayed awake in her classes), but it was still good news.

Rukawa Kaede had a grade average of around 53% (barely a pass). It wasn't an everyday thing for him to get a _64% _for any subject, let alone maths. Did her tutoring help?

She smiled to herself, _'It's not amazing, but it'll do.'_

* * *

"Haruko-chan!" Her companions bounced towards her as she continued to empty the contents of her school bag into her locker, organising it with military neatness.

"Ohayo, Matsui-chan and Fuji-chan!"

"Did you hear? Fuji got the highest rank for the exams overall!" Matsui declared boldly, causing Fuji's face to turn bright red. She was never one for boasting about her own academic achievements so Matsui did it for her.

Haruko squealed in delight and enveloped her smart friend in a bone crushing hug, "Congratulations! I'm so happy for you Fuji-chan!" Although many would normally be jealous of her friend's intelligence, Haruko knew that some people were born to be better at things than others and accepted it. Yet a part of her still envied the genius.

"Let's go celebrate after school!"

Instead of hearing any cheerful responses, silence was her reply. Haruko eyed her friends expecting an answer but wasn't prepared for their wide-eyed and agape mouths. "…guys?" A few seconds later she realised that they weren't staring at her, but at something – or rather _someone_ behind her. By the stunned expression on both their faces, Haruko wasn't sure if she should turn around or just flee the scene.

The mystery person's warmth encompassed her body and Haruko was briefly reminded of an incident about a week ago on the sofa when she fell onto…

"Rukawa-kun?"

"Aa."

She turned around to find the heartthrob barely an inch away from her. It took all her willpower to not step back to create an invisible barrier between them. There would have been no point anyway there was no escaping such piercing eyes as his own.

When she met his gaze he felt himself drowning in cerulean. Her eyes were guarded, as though she wasn't sure what to expect from him. His heart twisted uncomfortably at the fact that she felt she needed to raise her barriers around him.

"Did you make it?" she whispered so quietly in contrast to her boldness with her friends. It was like they were discussing a secret only the two of them shared.

He liked the intimacy.

His head barely moved, but whatever movement he made was enough to make the girl in front of him lift her lips into a dazzling smile and crinkle her eyes mirthfully. For a moment, an image of his mother's beaming face briefly flickered in his mind.

Would kaa-san smile again if he gave her his report card?

He was rewarded with a whisper of a "Congratulations". Although she had said those same words to her other friend at a much louder volume, Rukawa didn't mind. It may have been a selfish thought, but he'd like to think that her greeting for him was more genuine.

"Here." A bundle of paper was placed into her hands before he walked off, heading towards the top of the roof.

* * *

That night, Haruko recollected the events from earlier that day. Thankfully, all the starting players passed the treacherous exams, though it really was a wonder how _Mitsui _managed to make it. Now they could focus on the upcoming games properly, without the distractions of exams and school life.

Speaking of distractions, it had been almost three weeks since Rukawa injured his knee. Although it wasn't as serious as Mitsui's ankle problem, she didn't want to make any assumptions on his health. The freshman seemed to be on form for all their practices, but that doesn't mean his knee has been healed entirely.

She shot up out of bed.

Maybe _that's _why he was passing a lot more than usual! He was too injured to push his body to the limit than he normally did so he let his teammates do most of the physically work for him! But then he started passing more even before the injury…

She sighed, lying back down.

Her mind drifted back to their conversation that day. When he left he gave her some sheets of paper all stapled together. But before she could look at it the bell rang for the next lesson, causing her to stuff the bundle into her school bag and sprint to her next class.

She got out of bed and walked towards her bag, opening it to find the papers. She didn't realise it was her original maths paper until she saw _Rukawa Kaede_ neatly written in her cursive handwriting in the space where the candidate's name should be. Her eyes drifted to the number on the top right corner…

_90%._

The desire to run into her brother's room and shove her grade into his face was unbearable. She was already at his door, prepared to assault it with violent and repetitive knocks, when she realised that the name on that paper wasn't _hers_.

Heaving a defeated sigh, she dragged her feet back into her room.

Going through her paper she slapped her forehead whenever a careless mistake was brought to attention (which there were plenty of) but when she got to the last page, instead of slapping her forehead she pinched herself. This had to be a dream.

Because written down at the bottom left corner of the last page – in the scruffiest, almost illegible handwriting – were the last words she'd expect.

_Thank you, Haruko._

* * *

**There you have it. It wasn't one of my best chapters, but I did put some effort into it (although I should be focusing on my upcoming add maths exam)!**

**This fic will be reaching its end pretty soon and it's been a great journey with you guys. Thank you all so much for your support (whether good or bad)! I hope you guys will write RuHaru fics of your own! I'm more than willing to beta them for you!**

**Thanks and stay tuned!**


	10. Chapter 10

A couple of days had passed since Rukawa handed Haruko back her exam paper. He wasn't sure how she was going to react to the little message he wrote at the end. He didn't know how he wanted her to react either.

What would Haruko do now?

What did he _want _her to do?

It was weird for a person like himself – who despised social interaction – to actually seek the companionship of a person he barely knew, of a _girl_. Perhaps it was because she was so similar to his mother that she personally stood out to him. By the time he realised what was happening, she had already wormed her way into his life.

And now that he'd _finally _decided to acknowledge her, what does she do?

Nothing.

With the way she was responding, it almost seemed as though she was _avoiding _him. She couldn't maintain eye contact with him for any longer than 3 seconds! She wouldn't even come within a 5 meter radius of him!

He may not know how he wanted her to react, but this was not what he wanted.

What's more, the lack of attention he received from her was starting to affect his basketball training. There would be moments where he would _discreetly_ space out (while looking in _her _direction); it was during these times he was actually thankful that his loud teammates would always holler his name when they passed to him. But there were also moments where he'd pull of some flashy stunt and find himself looking to see her reaction.

Her lack of response to him was becoming a problem. He had to fix it before it got worse.

* * *

"Bye Haruko-san!" Just the sound of the do-ahou's obnoxious voice sparked a desire to verbally insult the moron.

"Bye Sakuragi-kun! I'll see you at the basketball court!"

He could just envision what was to happen next: Haruko would approach him hesitantly, call out his name, tap his shoulder gently and then walk back to the basketball court when she saw the signs of him waking up. It was now like a routine, not that he minded.

Right on cue, the sound of footsteps grew louder before they stopped abruptly by his 'sleeping' figure. He knew she was hovering over his face when he felt part of the sun's rays being blocked and the heat from another body.

At any moment now, his name would be uttered in that tender tone he'd recently started to associate with the girl that was currently trying to rouse him from slumber.

Of course, what she didn't know was that he was already awake and anticipating her actions. It was ironic that Rukawa was actually _pretending _to sleep and it was downright shameful for him to be doing so for an excuse to spend more time with his captain's sister.

But there was something about Akagi Haruko's presence that calmed him down when his raging ambitions clouded his better judgement. He didn't know what purpose her presence served to him, but he couldn't deny that he relished in it.

Or maybe, he knew why he liked her company and just didn't want to admit the truth.

Either way, if their encounters were limited to the moments where she was sent to awaken him, he had no choice but to keep 'sleeping'. Besides even if he was a tad late for training, he always made up for it by staying back to practice on his own.

He could hear her breathing above him as she got closer. Inhaling, his nose tingled in anticipation of her floral fragrance. He almost puked when the stench of body odour wafted through his wounded nostrils.

That's when he realised.

Haruko didn't breathe heavily, neither were her footsteps so loud and weighty. She certainlydidn't reek of sweat and … was that _whiteboard marker_ he smelled?

On instinct, his left hand shot up to grab the stranger's hand; skilfully he twisted that hand and thrust it back towards where he assumed the stranger's face was, effectively trying to make the dumbass (who was definitely not Haruko) punch himself in the face.

Nobody got away with waking him up.

(Except Haruko.)

The freshman only opened his eyes when the sound of the person's yell reached his ears.

Rukawa was _not_ prepared for the sight above him.

* * *

The doors to the gym groaned as they were shoved open, alerting everyone inside of Rukawa's late arrival. Takenori – who was already enraged at their ace's tardiness – felt his irritation reach a whole new level when he found the freshman _still in his school uniform._

He was about to unleash his fiery wrath upon the boy when Mitsui beat him to it.

"BAKKARO! HOW DARE YOU SHOW UP SO LATE?!" The sharpshooter continued to rant at his junior for his lack of respect among other non-related issues. Mitsui wasn't _seriously _mad at him; he knew Rukawa would just make up for the lost time on his own after training. But he thought it would be safer for the freshman if _he _was the one who scolded him instead of the gorilla. However when Rukawa merely looked at him with a mask of indifference on his face, Mitsui started to feel actual anger boiling through his veins.

"…and you're still in your school uni–"

"WHERE IS THAT TEME KITSUNE?!"

Immediately, said kitsune walked away from his fuming seniors and straight into the changing rooms. Not a second after he left, Hanamichi stormed into the gym with uncontrolled fury written all over his face.

Instead of cowering in fear, the basketball players roared in laughter, completely ignoring the fact that the redhead was more than capable of physically maiming each of them and everyone in their families.

Of course, no one bothered to pay attention to that detail when there was a whiteboard marker ruthlessly shoved up Sakuragi's left nostril.

Haruko sprinted up to the redhead, her eyes filled with worry at the offending object sticking out of his nose. In all honesty, he was amazed that Haruko didn't join them in laughing at him, heck she didn't even look remotely humoured. But then he remembered that she was _Haruko-san _and she was as kind as… whatever thing that was also kind.

"Sakuragi-kun!" Haruko's hand gently touched his nose, causing him to yell out in pain. "What happened?"

"I was trying to wake up the stupid kitsune when he did THIS to me!" Of course he left out the part where he was trying to draw on his face with the appendage that was now part of his nose.

"I can't pull it out! It's in too deep!"

Everyone attempted to help rid Sakuragi of his problem but all their efforts went in vain as nobody was able to even get within a metre radius of the redhead without being punched in the head. What could he say; Sakuragi didn't want anyone trying to pull it out…. It freaking hurt!

* * *

Haruko was told (commanded) to stay far away from the redhead by her brother until he was deemed 'aproachable.' So she waited patiently on the bench for the chaos to pass over. She couldn't find it in herself to believe Hanamichi's words; Rukawa wasn't the kind of person to harm someone for no reason.

Was he?

Come to think of it, she didn't really know Rukawa Kaede enough to judge his character. In fact, how could she have feelings for him if she barely knew anything about him in the first place? Her attraction towards him was merely based on his good looks and basketball skills. Wouldn't that make her as shallow as all of his fan girls?

A presence beside her pulled Haruko out of her thoughts. She didn't need to look to know who it was; the shadowy aura and silence was enough for her to recognise Rukawa Kaede. They continued to sit in silence, watching the commotion on the other side of the gym and pretending to be unaffected by their proximity to each other.

Haruko was the first to break the silence, "Why?"

He didn't need to ask her what she was talking about. "He was going to draw on my face."

She breathed a laugh and almost gasped when she heard him chuckle along with her. His voice sounded so beautiful, so light-hearted in contrast to his normal brooding self. She liked it.

* * *

Amongst the crowd of heads blurring his vision, Sakuragi spotted the boy who violated his face and the girl of his dreams next to him. They were way too close to each other for _his_ comfort.

"THERE YOU ARE! TEMMMEEEEEE!"

He sprinted towards them, clearly intent on returning the favour to his rival.

* * *

As Hanamichi made a dash towards them (with the marker _still _inside his nostril), fear was working its way through Haruko's system: fear for the person beside her. Unconsciously she moved closer to the ace until her right arm and thigh made contact with his left. The idea of protecting him wasn't too beyond her at this point.

Rukawa flinched from the unexpected contact but relaxed immediately in case Haruko took it as a sign that he was uncomfortable. However, she did notice his body stiffen up and – much to his dismay – was about to move away again.

The ace would have done something to ensure that their proximity wasn't lost, if it weren't for the large fist coming directly at his face–

"Are you two fighting?"

Just as one of Sakuragi's knuckles met his nose, the redhead withdrew his hand as though it was burned. He spun around to face their Coach – whose glasses glinted with a dangerous gleam – and with a hand scratching the back of his head, he laughed brazenly.

"Of course not! We were just- OWWWWW!"

While Sakuragi was talking to Coach Anzai, Ayako had stealthily made her way towards the unsuspecting figure and freed the whiteboard marker from its mucus-lined prison. Sakuragi glared at their manager, massaging his injured nose while the rest of the Shohoku members crowded around her to examine the deadly object.

Meanwhile, Rukawa subtly brushed arms with the girl beside him to stop her from moving away. She turned her head to look at him curiously as he avoided her gaze. When she continued to stare at him, he turned to look at her with an eyebrow raised in question. Pink dusted her cheeks.

"…You're welcome."

It took him a moment to register what he had thanked her for in the first place. A memory of him scribbling a quick message on a piece of paper surfaced. Unfortunately he also remembered the following days where she avoided him like the plague.

But now, as his eyes analysed her face, from the dimple beside her sheepish grin to the way her attention was focused on anything but him, he began to realise how much courage it must have taken for her to say those words. Based on her body language, she must have been avoiding him because she was nervous. At least now she managed to get over her fear of approaching him. He smirked; it looked like they were finally progressing.

Haruko fought off the urge to squeal at the slight upturn of Rukawa's lips. For a second she was worried that he didn't remember the note on her maths paper; after all it probably wasn't as big a deal to him as it was to her.

The quirk of his lips said otherwise.

One minute she was nervous, the next she was undeniably happy. Her eyes shimmered with glee, lips lifted to reveal rows of dazzling white teeth as the blush on her cheeks increased tenfold. A warm feeling bubbled inside him as Rukawa realised – with slight pride, that_ he_ was the one responsible for the beatific expression that adorned her face.

If all it took was a smirk and some acknowledgement to get this reward, he'd definitely do it more.

"OI RUKAWA! GO FLIRT WITH HARUKO LATER, WE'RE TRAINING NOW."

The response was immediate. Haruko's face burned as red as Hanamichi's hair and she leaped off the bench with frightening speed to stand beside Ayako. Rukawa on the other hand was not as responsive, after several moments of realising Haruko _wasn't _sitting beside him any longer his attention was on the source of their interruption.

Mitsui Hisashi was clearly out to get him with that shit-eating grin of his.

His gaze steeled into a fierce glare as he got off the bench and joined his snickering teammates on the court, ignoring the twitch in his nose.

Oddly enough, he wasn't sure why he was upset at the sharpshooter. Was it because he publicly embarrassed or was it something else?

* * *

Training seemed to be extra vigorous that day. Sure the captain was eager for them to polish their teamwork and fluency as a unit, but after today's tough training there must have been more on his mind. Although he hated to admit it, Rukawa didn't think that he'd be able to stay behind to practice by himself after such a strenuous session.

The cold water worked away at his tensed muscles; he sighed at its icy touch on his skin. The desire to curl into a ball and sleep right then was almost unbearable.

Just when he'd packed away all of his stuff and was heading towards the changing room's main exit, a gruff voice halted his movements.

"Rukawa."

He tensed. The gorilla was especially rough on _him _today and Rukawa could find a number of reasons behind that: not only was he late, but because of him the time they could've spent training was wasted on trying to remove the whiteboard marker from Hanamichi's nose that he was also responsible for.

"Hai."

Yet none of those things were on the captain's mind.

"Haruko…" Takenori's voice adopted a foreign tone: gone was its usual roughness; instead it was replaced with an absurdly soft element. He wasn't speaking to the freshman as Shohoku's captain.

He was speaking as Haruko's older brother.

Since his imouto was an incredibly beautiful girl, Takenori was very familiar with the process of scaring away any unworthy suitors, so having this conversation was nothing new to him. But not once in his life did he believe that he'd be having this conversation with Rukawa Kaede, the star of their team, their _ace_. More importantly, he was the love of his imouto's life.

Being the older brother, he was worried that this growing relationship between the two freshmen may end up hurting Haruko. Being the team captain, he was _also _worried it may affect their team dynamics.

Either way, the possibility of bad things stemming from their relationship – whatever the two of them were - was too big to ignore. Rukawa and Haruko may have been merely acquaintances for now, but whatever that was transpiring between them clearly gave his sister hope.

"…she's too trusting."

Despite all the priorities Takenori had, the most important one would always be:

"I don't want to see my little sister hurt."

_family._

Rukawa opened his mouth but his words were halted by his captain's raised hand, "I don't know what's going on between you two, nor do I care. As long as she isn't hurt and your basketball playing isn't affected, it is none of my business."

With his own belongings in his hand he walked towards the exit, passing Rukawa's stiff form as he muttered lowly, "Understood?"

He was a few steps ahead of the ace when he finally received his response.

"Hai, captain."

"Good." He smirked approvingly before lifting one hand up in a wave.

"Work hard."

He never specified what for.

* * *

'_As long as she isn't hurt and your basketball playing isn't affected…' _Those words rung in his head throughout all his morning lessons. Rukawa didn't know what he and Haruko were: would being friends be good enough for Haruko? Would it be good enough for him?

Did friends cheat for each other during exams? Did friends watch each other from a distance? Surely if they were just friends, she wouldn't blush whenever she was around him and she wouldn't be too shy to approach him.

The catcalls from his teammates definitely implied that there was more going on between them than just friendship. Hanamichi was never on the receiving end of their hoots despite everyone knowing his insane crush on the girl. Rukawa was confused. He hated not knowing. That's why he had to solve this problem.

The bell sounded causing students to jump out of their chairs and head towards the cafeteria like their lives were depending on it. Rukawa ambled to the classroom's exit and was about to walk towards the rooftop when he decided against it and turned to follow the rush of students. Haruko was bound to be somewhere in the canteen.

After avoiding the onslaught of rabid fan girls – they were amongst the reasons why he never went into the cafeteria in the first place – he felt something akin to disappointment when his eyes did not catch sight of brown and cerulean. With a resigned sigh, he trudged back to the rooftop; the one time he actually _looked _for her and she wasn't around.

However, when he opened the door to the roof, he was in for a surprise.

Because curled up uncomfortably on the floor, with a rucksack as a pillow, was Akagi Haruko.

Quietly, he walked over to the slumbering girl and knelt down beside her unconscious form. Casting a glance to his surroundings, when he was certain nobody else was around to witness this scene, he allowed himself a few moments to drink in the picture before him: her cream complexion had yet to be marred by lines, eyelids closed: her eyelashes brushed against the top of her cheekbones, the muscles in her face and body were relaxed, she was completely still save for the slight movement whenever she breathed.

This was the second time he'd seen her asleep.

His mind reverted back to their moment in the locker room.

* * *

_Flashback:_

_When he woke up again, he couldn't find it in himself to pull away from his pillow, despite knowing that it was Haruko. How awkward would it be for the both of if he 'woke up' right now? He definitely didn't want to know. _

_Besides… she was comfortable. _

_And he was tired. You couldn't blame him for wanting to sleep longer, it was in his nature._

_But right now he couldn't sleep. He had to get away from this awkward situation fast. _

_She started humming a tune lightly as her fingers continued to comb through his hair. He could feel the vibrations of her humming and her intakes of breath from her stomach. Rukawa knew he was involuntarily being lulled to sleep by her soothing ministrations; it had never been so hard for him to fight sleep as it was at this moment._

_Her humming got softer, gradually diminishing. When the tune stopped altogether, Rukawa chanced a glance at her face and was amused. She hummed herself to sleep! Yet her fingers did not let up on their routine on his scalp, almost as though it was an unconscious instinct for her._

_His gaze was glued to her face. He knew that behind those closed lids hid stunning topazes; he knew that behind those lips hid a radiant smile. As his eyes absorbed her features, he couldn't decide which Haruko he preferred more: the sleeping or the smiling one?_

_The faint sound of a door closing broke him out of his reverie and his eyes darted towards the bottles beside the door. Someone had been here, someone had seen them. His stomach churned uncomfortably at the thought; he didn't want people to get the wrong idea (but what was the right idea anyway?)._

_Since Haruko was still asleep, he took this opportunity to slowly (reluctantly) lift his head off her lap and leave the room – ignoring the way his knee protested - grabbing a bottle on his way out._

_The match between Shoyo and Shohoku was over when he returned to the court._

"_Rukawa! How's your knee?" The box of water bottles in the manager's hand was more than enough proof that she was the mystery visitor at the locker room, if the suggestive smirk she wore didn't make it obvious._

"_Hn. She's still in there."_

_With that, he limped away to join his teammates knowing that Ayako would take care of her._

* * *

"Oi, Haruko."

A calloused hand was on her shoulder, gently trying to shake her awake. When she finally pried her eyes open, she almost screamed at the face that was _far too close _for comfort. A pair of piercing cobalt eyes were staring into her own, the tips of their noses almost brushing.

Rukawa was watching her like she was some new rare species he had yet to come across. How could he be so calm when their faces were literally _inches _apart? Her own heart was thundering inside her chest.

He raised an eyebrow and watched her get flustered with amusement. It never ceased to amaze him how easily he could make her blush. He moved back to let her breathe.

"Gomen Rukawa-kun."

Stifling a yawn behind her hand, she moved into a sitting position giving him room to sit beside her. Their arms brushed. "I barely know anything about you..." Her voice quietened as she realised how pathetic her excuse for sleeping sounded to her own ears, "…so I thought that maybe I could understand you better if I shared your hobby of…" by the time she got to the last word, it was said in a whisper. "…sleeping."

Rukawa was at a loss for words. There were many who fawned over Shohoku's ace but nobody really bothered to take the time to get to know the boy behind the basketball skills. Guys saw him as a threat and girls saw him as a greek god, but they all assumed that there was nothing else to know about Rukawa Kaede. Even his own parents didn't give him the time of day anymore.

Yet next to him was Akagi Haruko – a girl whom he'd never noticed until a few months ago – and she was eager to know the boy who hid behind a mask.

"I don't know what we are." Her voice shook, "Acquaintances? Are we even friends?"

He didn't reply.

"I don't know what I am to you, if I mean anything to you. I know that we can't ever become anything more than friends. But I still want to be there for you, to support you."

There was an unspoken '_I love you'_ in that sentence. He could hear it. That was when he knew Haruko – as understanding and kind as she was – could never be happy with them being just friends. Yet Rukawa couldn't give her what she wanted, not without sacrificing everything that he'd worked for.

Perhaps in another world, he could throw it all away for her and give her the 'happy ever after' she wanted. But this was real life.

His future had no room for her.

She was Akagi Haruko.

He was Rukawa Kaede.

And they were worlds apart.

"I can't love you."

He stood up and walked away, leaving her alone on the rooftop.

Haruko smiled as a tear trickled down her cheek.

Rukawa wasn't a man of many words, but she understood him perfectly.

'_Just because I can't love you, doesn't mean I don't.'_

* * *

**This is the OFFICIAL ending. But this was too depressing. So I'm thinking of writing an ALTERNATE ENDING or maybe an epilogue. If you guys ask nicely :)**

**I'd like to thank all of you beautiful people out there who have supported me by reviewing, favourite-ing, following and just reading it in general. **

**Review for possibly the last time? :)**

**yourstruly247**


	11. epilogue

**Nia: I wish you had a fanfiction account. Because if you did I'd be writing paragraphs to you expressing how much your comments warm my heart. But thank you anyway, your words (along with those from some of my other favourite reviewers) really do mean so much to me. **

**ulq4schiffer: thank you for supporting me! It's been a pleasure writing for you all! **

**Here's the epilogue!**

* * *

Rukawa was twenty seven when he injured his left knee a second time.

Apparently, being the Houston Rockets's starting point guard in the National Basketball Association for eight consecutive years didn't make him immune to the common sports ailments. After all the years of intensive training, he was surprised to have been taken down by the same injury he suffered from in high school.

This time, the consequences were much more brutal.

He was training with his teammates when it happened: just as he crouched to prepare for a jump shot, a searing sting rushed from his calf into his tendon and remained in his kneecap. The pain intensified when he foolishly attempted to pivot on the same leg, spraining the ligament and twisting his knee in the process.

His face scrunched up in unconcealed agony as he succumbed to his fate. A swarm of people surrounded him while he faintly heard someone call for a doctor. Instinctively his eyes scanned the crowd before him for a hint of chestnut-brown, but he didn't know why.

Either way, he didn't find what he was looking for.

* * *

"Rukawa-san," his physiologist gave him a sympathetic grin. The elderly man before him was one of the only people he trusted in the states, largely due to the fact that he was also Japanese.

Rukawa was still an antisocial ice block when he began playing basketball professionally; some things didn't change no matter where you were. He didn't have many friends there (if he was honest, he could count the number of friends he made with one hand) yet _still _attracted fan girls. Unfortunately, the girls in America were the same as in Japan. Everywhere he went their eyes would trail after his figure.

Pathetic.

They only admired him for his looks, personality and skills just like back then.

"Your strain comes from years of overuse. The pain in the front of your knee is caused by severe inflammation of the patellar tendon. More importantly, a few of the ligaments supporting your knee have been completely torn."

He blankly stared at his doctor, not understanding the situation. Judging from the downcast expression on the man's face, he didn't think he wanted to either. "Rehabilitation for these types of injuries would take months, maybe a couple of years. But in your case it's different. You've been pushing yourself over your knee's limit day in and day out for several years, so there more problems that have yet to be identified. You won't be able to play basketball for a long time…"

Rukawa wanted to scoff, get up and leave the room; but he knew the man wasn't finished.

"…and you won't be able to play professionally ever again."

He froze.

His face went slack, wide eyes staring intently at the x-ray of his leg, his body unmoving. All color was drained from his face and he wasn't breathing.

"I'm sorry."

With those two words, the shock melted away.

Rukawa wasn't sure what hurt more: the injury itself or the fact that his dream was over.

* * *

Two hours passed.

The doctor was kind enough to allow him to rest in the room until his shift was over. In those two hours Rukawa had yet to move from his spot on the bed.

"Rukawa-san." The man took the seat facing him. "It's not the end of the world."

When he failed to respond, the man sighed. "There is more to life than basketball. Give yourself a chance."

He left the room, leaving Rukawa to his own thoughts.

* * *

A month later, Rukawa found himself reading sports magazines in his condominium. Just starting his rehabilitation stage, his movements were limited to walking for short periods of time and simple stretches. Needless to say he couldn't work until it was healed but with the salary he earned as a basketball player, he didn't _need _to work anymore.

Now that his basketball career was over, he often found himself wondering if it was worth it: his sacrifices. He finally achieved his dreams – at the expense of everything else – and now he's woken up to reality.

Where could he go when he had nothing to go back to?

The doorbell rang. It took all of his willpower to get off his couch, grab his walking stick and limp all the way to the door. Unfortunately, it took a lot of time as well.

By the time he finally reached the front door, he heard footsteps fading away: his visitor was obviously an impatient person. Just as he turned around to retreat back to the comfort of his couch, his foot brushed against an envelope that was slipped under his door.

This was the first letter he received in the eight years he lived away from Japan.

His knee groaned in protest as he bent downwards to get it and hobbled back into the loving arms of his sofa; eyeing the envelope with suspicion. Maybe the letter was dropped off at the wrong address?

But it clearly said 'To Mr. Kaede Rukawa' on the front.

Why would someone send him a letter _now _of all times? Maybe something fatal happened to one of his parents or there was an overdue bill that he'd forgotten to pay (though that's equally as unlikely). Maybe it was a wedding invitation.

He allowed himself a few moments to fantasize – it's not like he had anything better to do anyway.

If it was the latter, who was getting married? He mentally went through a list of faces of the people he knew as a teenager (which was really quite a short list). Miyagi and Ayako were the first pair to come to mind, the point guard had been chasing after their manager for years so it only seemed right for them to be with each other in the end.

He wondered who would be the best man.

Naturally the do'ahou would fight tooth and nail with Mitsui for the position. Miyagi would probably choose their captain instead so he wouldn't be accused of taking sides. He chuckled at the thought of the gorilla wearing a classy tuxedo and possibly shedding a few tears at his friend's wedding. Would Haruko be the maid of honour?

An image of the captain's sister wearing a simple peach-tinted, long-flowing dress with a velvety red sash in the middle surfaced in his mind. His hands felt clammy.

But what if Haruko was the bride?

A groan escaped his lips. Not this again.

Ever since he stopped playing basketball, thoughts of what could have been nagged him relentlessly. He made his decision that day on the rooftop and Haruko understood. In fact, she continued to support him right up until the last match he played as a member of Shohoku's basketball team. Shouldn't that be enough for him?

Apparently it wasn't.

He ripped the envelop open with unnecessary force and unfurled the letter.

_Dear Rukawa-kun._

_How have you been? I have no excuse for not keeping in contact with you this whole time, but I hope you find it in yourself to forgive me._

_I read about your early retirement from basketball online. I truly am sorry about your injury! Well, at least you reached your goal and made your dream a reality, even if it was only for a little while. _

_All of us in Shohoku are really proud of you. Especially onii-chan. _

_Speaking of him, Onii-chan has become a professor in nuclear physics at Kyoto University. He told me that the students he teaches are as thick-headed as Mitsui-san who is the owner of this new sushi-bar in Osaka. _

_Ayako-san is a lawyer – she works in the state courthouse of Hiroshima. Miyagi-san also works there as a coffee boy. Although she denies it, we all know they're dating._

_Kogure-kun is a psychiatrist working in the same university onii-chan teaches in. Apparently most of his patients are onii-chan's students. _

_Sakuragi-kun is a bouncer in a nightclub. Who would have thought he'd be paid to beat people up? But he says that he's "protecting the ladies" in there. Yohei-kun told me that he used to be rejected by so many girls in school, but now they all see him as their hero! _

_As for me: I'm working in a private clinic in Kanagawa as an orthopaedic. I couldn't find it in myself to move away from our hometown, so I bought a place of my own in the prefecture. I've watched a lot of your basketball games on TV and you never ceased to amaze me with your skills! I know your team will have a hard time without you!_

_Anyway, you must be wondering why you're getting a letter from me now of all times, right? Well, I wrote this letter the moment I found out about your knee. I won't pretend to understand how you feel: you've worked so hard to fulfil your ambitions and when you were finally living your dream, it all came crashing down on you._

_We – the members of Shohoku's high school basketball team - are all here for you nonetheless. We always have been._

_You're at a crossroad right now in life Rukawa-kun. It's entirely up to you which path you take, but you won't know where it takes you until you've walked the path._

_But remember, there's always a road back home._

_And we'll always be at the end of it._

_Akagi Haruko_

* * *

"Calling all boarders on flight 2027 to Narita International Airport. Calling all boarders on flight 2027 to Narita International Airport. Please make your way to gate 23."

Standing up, Rukawa joined the ever-growing line by gate 23. Six weeks passed since the day he received Haruko's letter. Six weeks meant forty two days of wallowing in self-pity. A thousand and eight hours of questioning his life's purpose. Sixty thousand, four hundred and eighty minutes spent on pondering his future.

It took him three million, six hundred and twenty-eight thousand, eight hundred seconds to make his decision.

He'd given it all up for basketball once: grades, friendship (and maybe something more), family bonds. Rukawa was one of the lucky few who actually attained his lifelong ambition. He managed to savour its glorious taste for eight whole years; if it wasn't for his knee he'd probably spend the rest of his life doing so. He was in too deep; he couldn't stop playing even if he wanted to.

But when he grew old, what would he have to look back on other than basketball?

His injury was somewhat of a blessing, an escape route from the trap he'd landed himself in. Maybe this time around he'd learn to live an ordinary life, one without the weight of his own ambitions burdening him.

Not many people get second chances.

He'd make his worthwhile.

* * *

The ice-cream melted on her tongue; her taste buds were drowned in its flavour. She couldn't help but moan at the strawberry sensation in her mouth and snuggle into the thick texture of her duvet as she listened to the cackling of the radio.

The faint chime of the doorbell sounded over the stereo. At first Haruko dismissed it, thinking it was merely her imagination. After all, who would be visiting her at eleven at night on a weekday?

When it rang for the second time, fear took a hold of her. The crime rate in Kanagawa increased drastically during the recent few months. She lived alone, so she'd be an easy target. But if the person on the other side of the door was a burglar/serial killer/rapist, why would they ring the doorbell at all… let alone twice?

She jumped from the sudden sound of knocking.

After realising that no sane criminal would want to make their presence known and that she was not about to be beaten within an inch of her life. She inched towards the door; her hands shakily undid the locks.

With a hand on the knob, she swallowed her fear and opened the front door.

…

…

…

"…Rukawa-kun?"

_fin._

* * *

**That's it. I know it's short, but it's not actually a chapter. **

**It's up to you guys to decide how their lives play out from here. **

**Does anyone want an alternative ending? :)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	12. alternative ending (from chapter 10)

**You must read this or else you won't understand the alternative ending.**

**This scene is a continuation from chapter 10, after Takenori confronts Rukawa and he finds Haruko asleep on the rooftop. Because it's a continuation from chapter 10, it will be shorter.**

* * *

"Oi, Haruko."

A calloused hand was on her shoulder, gently trying to shake her awake. When she finally pried her eyes open, she almost screamed at the face that was _far too close_for comfort. A pair of piercing cobalt eyes were staring into her own, the tips of their noses almost brushing.

Rukawa was watching her like she was some new rare species he had yet to come across. How could he be so calm when their faces were literally _inches _apart? Her own heart was thundering inside her chest.

He raised an eyebrow and watched her get flustered with amusement. It never ceased to amaze him how easily he could make her blush. He moved back to let her breathe.

"Gomen Rukawa-kun."

Stifling a yawn behind her hand, she moved into a sitting position giving him room to sit beside her. Their arms brushed. "I barely know anything about you..." Her voice quietened as she realised how pathetic her excuse for sleeping sounded to her own ears, "…so I thought that maybe I could understand you better if I shared your hobby of…" by the time she got to the last word, it was said in a whisper. "…sleeping."

Rukawa was at a loss for words. There were many who fawned over Shohoku's ace but nobody really bothered to take the time to get to know the boy behind the basketball skills. Guys saw him as a threat and girls saw him as a greek god, but they all assumed that there was nothing else to know about Rukawa Kaede. Even his own parents didn't give him the time of day anymore.

Yet next to him was Akagi Haruko – a girl whom he'd never noticed until a few months ago – and she was eager to know the boy who hid behind a mask.

"I don't know what we are." Her voice shook, "Acquaintances? Are we even friends?"

He didn't reply.

"I don't know what I am to you, if I mean anything to you. I know that we can't ever become anything more than friends. But I still want to be there for you, to support you."

There was an unspoken '_I love you'_ in that sentence. He could hear it. That was when he knew Haruko – as understanding and kind as she was – could never be happy with them being just friends. Yet Rukawa couldn't give her what she wanted, not without sacrificing everything that he'd worked for.

He shouldn't lead her on; he shouldn't give her false hope. Haruko deserved someone better, better than him. She was like a beautiful bird – enrapturing anyone who saw her or heard her melody. If he led her on he'd be the cage that trapped her within him; that would be unfair.

But as he looked at her, _really _looked at her, he knew there was no one quite like Akagi Haruko: from her expressive cerulean eyes to her cupid's bow. No person made him feel as human as she did, and Rukawa wasn't sure how comfortable he was with that idea. She caused a flurry of emotions in him: guilt, anger, irritation which eventually melted into pride, respect and now something else entirely.

He didn't want this to happen, but who was he to decide how he felt? Rukawa may have mastered the art of hiding his emotions, but that didn't mean they weren't there.

He was not one to fall in love.

So why did he feel as though he was plummeting from the sky?

His face showed none of the inner turmoil raging inside him. Haruko was unnerved by his silence. Here she was, practically pouring out her feelings for him yet he had yet to respond. Was he planning on saying anything or just leaving her hanging?

Was she so worthless in his eyes that she didn't even deserve a response?

When several moments passed by in silence, Haruko couldn't stand the tense atmosphere any longer. She stood up and walked away without saying a word. She knew when she wasn't wanted.

* * *

Despite them looking nothing alike, the Akagi siblings were very in tune with each other. Although Takenori adopted the role of the classic overprotective brother, he knew when it was time to stop sheltering his imouto. Haruko may be the typical happy-go-lucky sister, but he knew whenever she was faking.

This was one of those times.

"Hi onii-san!"

He had to stop himself from blurting out "What's wrong?" the moment he heard her address him so formally. Haruko never called him onii-san unless something happened. His eyes bore holes into her own, silently questioning her. If it weren't for her pleading gaze to _'save it for later,' _and the fact that they were in the gym, in front of his teammates, Takenori wouldn't think twice about finding that pompous prick they had for an ace and beating an apology out of the freshman's mouth.

Basketball be damned, no one messed with his little sister.

"We'll talk about this at home."

* * *

Coincidentally, Rukawa and Takenori were on opposing teams during their practice match. He would have gone all out on the rookie if he hadn't noticed the boy's failed attempts at casting subtle glances towards his sister. His normal reaction would be yelling at the rookie to pay attention, or bashing him on the head for ogling his sister.

Even _he _had to admit it was amusing.

That was, until he realised the ace was actually getting _distracted, _missing opportunities to help his teammates when they were heavily marked and not calling for the passes when he was open. At the rate he was going, the captain feared that they'd lose both the concentration of their rebounder _and _their ace to his sister's charms.

They didn't need _two _lovesick morons for starting players.

"Aya-chaaan!"

Make that _three._

Takenori promised that he'd interfere only if his imouto was hurt or Rukawa's playing was affected. Now that both happened, the gorilla was fully prepared to take matters into his own hands.

* * *

"Pass Rukawa!"

Without a moment's hesitation, he threw the ball swiftly at their point guard who fooled Sakuragi with a fake and made a successful layup. As everyone focused on the spectacle caused by the redhead and Miyagi, Rukawa's gaze was transfixed on the lonesome girl sitting on the bench.

It was obvious that she was upset.

The fact that _he _was the cause of her sorrow deepened the frown on his face. She should have understood by now that he was not a man of many words. But he didn't take any actions either.

He was rightly blamed.

"Oi, Rukawa." The menacing aura of his captain lurked behind him. Remembering their previous conversation, Rukawa knew that nothing good would come from this conversation with Haruko's brother.

"If your team wins, I'll talk to her."

Then the older student walked back to his side of the court, smirking as the rookie's wide-eyed expression transformed into one of determination.

* * *

Takenori wasn't really surprised to have lost to Rukawa. After that one sentence, it seemed as though something switched on in the ace and unleashed his true capabilities on the basketball court. If Rukawa was at his best in the game against Ryonan, this person in front of him was definitely someone else. All it took was a little bribery…

Who knew that a source of distraction could be turned into a source of inspiration?

When their practice match was over (45 – 38) Rukawa caught his captain's gaze, reminding him of what he promised.

* * *

"Haruko?" His little sister peered up at him from behind her novel.

"Hai onii-chan?" He sighed and sat down beside her on her bed.

"You know…" he cleared his throat awkwardly, as an older brother he never expected himself to have _girl talks. _"Rukawa's changing…"

Haruko's face flamed bright red at his name. Takenori chuckled at his sister's antiques before his face went serious again.

"But it takes time for a person to change his ways completely."

Confusion ebbed its way onto her features and he watched the gears turning in her head. He left the room giving her some time for herself to ponder his words.

Guilt overcame the younger Akagi as she realised the hidden meaning behind her brother's talk. She felt ashamed. How could she claim to want to understand him, when she wasn't patient enough to wait for him to open up to her? She contradicted herself within moments of confessing to the one person who'd always held her heart.

There was no way she'd leave this unsettled.

* * *

The door to the rooftop was forcefully shoved open, its sudden noise startling Rukawa awake from his lunchtime nap. Rukawa was about to teach the idiot who roused his slumber a lesson with his fists, when he caught a whiff of flowers and light footsteps.

"Rukawa-kun!" Haruko's hair was in disarray; her breaths heavy – like she had just ran a marathon – as she approached his figure and collapsed onto her knees beside him. When he looked at her with an eyebrow raised, she was too nervous to stop the words coming out of her mouth.

"I'm so sorry for what I did yesterday! I shouldn't have walked away after saying those things–"

"Haruko."

She stopped mid-rant to find the ace looking at her with a ghost of a smile playing on his lips and a shadow of amusement glimmering in his eyes.

Once she managed to suppress the ever-growing blush on her cheeks, she took a deep breath and continued. "I understand that you're not the most talkative person" he scoffed, "and that your dream is to play basketball professionally in America."

"I've always been inspired by your passion and dedication to basketball," Rukawa folded his arms behind his head, using them as a pillow as he eyed the girl in front of him. "I know that I'm being selfish, but I want to be a part of your life too!" She clenched her fists.

Rukawa sighed inwardly. He knew this was coming. Their relationship consisted of her giving and him taking. She gave her love, her time and her happiness to him. He had yet to give anything in return.

"I want to help you get to your dreams. So that when you finally reach your goals, you can look back and think of all of us who supported you…so that I can be in your memories too." Her gaze shifted to her fisted hands, "Like I said… I want to be a part of your life: if I'm not in your future, I'll settle for being in your past."

After her speech, Haruko didn't know what to expect. She'd laid her cards down on the table, leaving herself totally exposed and vulnerable to Rukawa: the boy who had a reputation of being an ice block and was more capable than anyone of shattering her heart within a blink of an eye. It was only at this point, where Haruko realised the stupidity of her actions. She'd left herself open and completely unarmed, a prey, to a predator who was notorious for breaking hearts without batting an eyelash.

She almost sobbed out loud at her naivety.

Her words rendered him speechless. She was too kind for her own good; people like him were bound to take advantage of her generosity. Yet here she was willing support a boy who had no future with her and she wasn't expecting anything in return.

He knew it would be selfish of him to let her do this, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.

Besides, he'd make sure she got something out of this relationship too.

"Hey," her head shot up, her eyes meeting Rukawa's instantly. If it wasn't for the fact that they were the only two people on roof, she'd have assumed it was someone else speaking. His tone was gentle almost… tender, yet his face remained impassive.

"Lie down."

"W-what?" He raised his eyebrows, his lips curled into a smirk at the stuttering mess he reduced Haruko into. "But where w-would I… a-and why?"

Her ramblings were cut short when he gripped her wrist and pulled her so that she lay on the floor beside him. His hand returned to its previous spot behind his head.

She turned to her side so that her body was facing his, shooting him a questioning glance. He sighed, "You said you wanted to make memories with me."

His kept his eyes focused on the feathery clouds in the sky as he ignored the tingling sensation in his nose.

"Here's where we start."

They spent the rest of that lunchtime watching the clouds in silence.

Just when he thought he'd figured her out, there she went surprising him again. He was under the belief that he had to choose either basketball or Haruko. Yet here she was telling him that he could have both, that she _wanted _him to have both.

That was when he realised that he wasn't falling for her anymore.

He just hit rock bottom.

* * *

**Before people start complaining about it being short or confusing, refer to the author's note before the chapter.**

**That's it. It's finished. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? Because I can't! Thank you EVERYBODY for this wonderful journey. ****I'm actually quite sad about ending this but every story has an ending, or in this case 2. :)**

**Review for the last time?**


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